The Perverted Misadventures of Junior?
by Pseudotree
Summary: Slight AU Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by “mishaps”, I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn’t.
1. Chapter 1

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

o

The Perverted Misadventures of... Junior?

A pair of footsteps clacked its way towards the main hall of the rather brightly lit underground structure, and then stopped as it reached the large double doors of the cafeteria buzzing with the muffled sounds of mundane conversations.

"Oh, why oh why does it have to be me?" exclaimed the guard as she stood dejectedly amid the wafts of today's special ("Roast", it was simply called). Running both hands through her neck-length jet-black hair in a matter reminiscent of a certain boss, she gathered herself with an exhale and walked in.

A wave of all-encompassing chatter hit her as she entered, and the wary woman scanned the rows of surrounding tables. Many were filled with employees from other sectors, grouped together in threes and fours on the edge of their seats in mid-talk. Among them she tried to look for the person that she was sent to fetch, a task she complied to do reluctantly. Oh, why did Ms. Earhart call her of all people for the-

A blur of blue met the corner of her right eye, and she turned to find the sought-after agent.

"Well… here I go." She said with a gulp, then straightened herself into a calm, professional stature before walking towards him

The boy in her line of sight was rather effeminate, with porcelain-like flawless skin and long blue hair reaching his back. He sat at a table empty of others (In fact, it seemed as if there was a circular barrier of people-repellents, with him in the middle) and quietly prodded his food on the tray, occasionally taking a few bites. The guard only saw him a few times before, and each time after the encounter she would ask her co-worker about the diminutive child. Only a couple of them answered, and they were pretty vague with it at best- mostly they would shift uncomfortably or look apprehensive as soon as the questions came up.

From what she gathered though, the boy was Agent J, a hit-man and a high-ranking operative despite his disturbingly young age. That, combined with the deafening silence and aura of detachment following him made her feel more than just uneasy whenever he was around. So when she was told to escort him to a facility on the west wing, the apprehensive young woman already dreaded the awkwardness of approaching him.

Now standing right beside the unaware child, she took a deep breath before calling out to him. "Agent J, I'm here to-"

"Watch out!"

A small spoon shot across the cafeteria and flicked the guard's left ear, and the sharp turn she reflexively made caused her to trip.

Clunk.

Landing hard on the floor bottom-first, her arm stopped the head from crashing as well by grabbing onto the edge of the long seat attached to the table. Muttering expletives as she heard the scurrying of the probable perpetrator, the guard made a fist as the pain of the impact caused her to ache.

"…Excuse me."

She raised her head up towards the sound of the voice, and found the face of the boy she was sent for looking at her with those red eyes. Feeling kind of foolish, she was about to say something when she noticed that something seemed slightly off.

"…Excuse me…" He said again, and to her surprise, a splotch of pink seemed to have appeared on the docile child. "Can you… please move your hand?"

The young woman blinked at the sudden query, then looked down at her left arm and froze. The length of her appendage on the metallic seat seemed to have stopped right at the wrist, and the rest, incredulously enough, was submerged into the side of the young agent's thigh. Panic gripped her as she took in what she saw, replaced shortly by confusion after she felt the hard steel of the sitting structure.

The guard then began to flex her left hand, and eventually flicked it upwards, resulting in most of the shocked woman's fingers poking through Agent J's pants –right between his upper legs.

"Ah…"

"Ah…"

"…Can you…"

"Ah……!"

The people in the premises swore that the scream that followed broke glass.

* * *

Junior was a troubled boy.

Much of his childhood was a blur to him, and often consisted a series of doctors coming in and out of his life. As far as he knows Wendy Earhart and Mr. Carpenter were the only prominent figures in his existence –this, whenever he was reminded, gave the lad a cold feeling in his stomach. Also, from his quiet observation of ordinary day-to-day interactions of others, the boy can easily tell that he is being left out (Miss Wendy, although she acts as his guardian, still emitted a vibe of apprehension when dealing with him) in much of the standard level of human contact much longed for…

…But what happened a few minutes ago wasn't… quite what he wished for.

"...Mmph."

The agent and the guard were silent as they went down on the small elevator. The messy happenings at the cafeteria was a nightmare to resolve, which involved not only calming the young woman down but the other, panicking employees (many of whom thought that there was an attack of some sort) as well. Added to the chaos was the fire alarm, and any semblance of order was gone completely.

Dink.

Getting off the cubical compartment, the two continued their journey to the room they were order to go to without a word until the arrival.

"…In here." said the guard as she motioned towards the door without meeting his gaze.

As Junior moved to go in, he stopped suddenly mid-way and lowered his head in what seemed like contemplation. The woman behind him raised an eyebrow at the reluctance, and was about to usher the boy onwards when he turned around.

Bowing his head slightly, Junior spoke in low tones –"S-sorry about earlier…"

Not having expected the sudden apology, it took awhile for her to stop gaping. "Oh… oh! No, no -it wasn't really your fault!"

Looking relieved by her words, the boy bowed slightly again and was about to go when the guard continued. "Oh, and kid?"

Staring into his eyes demurely, the young woman's mouth twitched and eventually broke into a smile. "The next time it happens, I'll be _quite_ suspicious of you."

A moment later, Junior was sure that he phased through the wall with his will alone, and not his power.

* * *

"So, do you have anything to report today?" asked Wendy from her desk, not taking her eyes off the screen of her laptop as she typed away.

Junior, who was about to leave the room, nearly stumbled. "N-no, Miss Wendy. Just the usual trip to the lab you called me down to."

Not noticing the stutter, Wendy replied absent-mindedly. "Right…you were off duty…"

The young lad stared down the floor. While what he said wasn't technically a lie (since it isn't his job to report on such… incidents), it still felt close enough to it for him to feel a tinge of guilt. Still, he didn't want to embarrass the other person involved, and possibly get her into trouble…

Finishing off her work on the computer, the blonde put it aside as she started to shuffle through a pile of documents stacked in front. "Well, Junior… it seems that a new assignment turned up for you."

His head perked up at the news. The boy had mixed feelings regarding the tasks that were given to him –on one hand the things he was assigned to do often involved the use of rather excessive force on the people in his way (causing more than mere injuries), but on the other…

"…You will be going to Japan with me in order to retrieve the _books_…" explained Wendy. "…with the main locations to focus on being the famous bookstore district Jinbo-cho as well as Nishihama."

Accepting the files of the necessary data, he quietly slipped out as his guardian began to organize some forms. Reading through the contents of the papers in his hands, Junior walked to the living room and sat down on a couch.

"…Nishihama Junior High School."

Information on many of the notable sites within the city was abundantly displayed, but this particular place caught his attention. Thinking back, Junior remembered reading a counterfeit file on himself (for a mission) not long ago stating that he was a middle school student. After comparing his height and looks with other children that passes him by on occasions, the agent assumed that he was indeed old enough to be one.

...Having to guess his own age was another fact that gave him the cold feeling in the abdomen.

Pushing the documents aside, Junior went into his own room to prepare for the upcoming assignment. It was, after all-

"-the only thing I have… The only way to get closer to Miss Wendy…"

Little did he knew of all the human contacts he was about to receive –some, again, not quite the kind he wished for.

O

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello and thank you for reading. I would like to state here that this fic will most likely be updated monthly, since there is another fic I'm working on as well.

Regarding the main concept of this story –well, lets just say that I feel Junior is rather underused in fanfictions, when there are so many ways to "mess" with the poor kid's interesting characteristic_**s**_ (I am not just referring to his intangibility).

Constructive criticism is very welcome, since I require HUGE developments. Also, I would like to ask you to keep checking the author's notes in the upcoming chapters, just in case.

Thanks again!


	2. They met in Jinbocho

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

o

Chapter 2

He ran.

It was late in the evening, with the shadowy pre-night partially illuminated by the street lamps and the stars, silent despite a certain figure's bullet-like movements.

"…Not cold." murmured Junior, the winds passing through his neutral face.

He had no reason to rush, for the young agent was simply ordered to become familiar with the main parts of the city in preparation for the upcoming missions. But at some point during the walk-through of the long, quiet alleys Junior was compelled to jog, then sprint, and then gradually pick up speed until…

He ran. The various infrastructures around him blurred and the boy felt as if he was in a dream world, away from everything sans the sound of the night's breeze, the slightly burning intakes of air, the pitch blackness ahead of him.

A sudden swish caught the corner of his eye, and the lad turned. To his left he saw a pack of white, large beasts bursting out from the roofs of a tall building –a curious sight, which Junior began following to investigate.

Even with his ability to phase through solid obstacles combined with athletic pumps of the legs, he still had trouble catching up with the rather agile beings jumping from houses to houses. Upon getting closer he found, to his barely-noticeable surprise, that they were carrying various house-hold items –drawers, couches, coffee-tables… the whole works.

Thump.

Hastily tied up, to boot.

A small padded sofa fell from one of the creatures' back and onto the ground. The entire pack seemed to have noticed this as all of them simultaneously flinched, and a pair of them ran back as if to retrieve it –followed by a very tall woman.

Considering the suit she wore, her hair style, and the distance between them, the mysterious, agitated lady's gender probably should not have registered to the young agent. But-

"Oh, no- I really don't have time for this!" muttered the raven-haired woman, panting heavily as she rushed towards the fallen furniture –her half-undone dress shirt fluttering teasingly.

Finally getting a good view of his targets after partially immersing himself into a nearby wall, Junior noticed that something was off. The large creatures at the woman's side seemed rather inorganic, rigid edges running across their bodies and adorned with very thin facial features (such as near width-less earlobes). Almost as if they were made of-

"Paper?" he whispered as the lady began to mount the sofa back.

This was certainly quite an unusual find, and likely to be something his superiors want reported in full detail. Reaching inside his pocket, Junior pulled out a small pen-shaped camera and pointed. She was unsuspecting. She was busy minding her own business. S-she was close to a street lamp, so the brief flash shouldn't be…

Click. Click. Click. Pressed were the tiny buttons in the sweaty palm.

Finishing up, she mounted on one of the beasts herself and left in a hurry. After making sure she was well out of range, the young agent stepped out into the air and let out a breath.

"…I should go back." Junior murmured after a look at his watch.

He felt an odd feeling of apprehension about this, which confused him with its completely illogical presence –He knew the collected data needs to be handed to Miss Wendy. He knew that getting some sleep is important as sudden assignments may be handed to him. He knew the best course of action after all is done for the day is to return-

'…Return…?' he trailed off.

Walking out of the streets towards the makeshift base where his guardian was waiting, he pondered quietly while drinking in the sensations of the peaceful night once more, for the last time… until much, much later.

* * *

The rows and rows of shelves were everywhere in the underground bookstore, the articles contained within various in shapes, size, purpose, and age- some almost a century old, some merely a few days. But all that went on in the mind of the small girl who walked among them was-

'BOOKS! They're EVERYWHERE!' thought Anita in dismay, passing them by (or tried her best to, anyway) in a manner reminiscent to a soldier tiptoeing across a mine field.

Deciding to sit down on a nearby cart (making sure none of its contents touched her in the process), she let out a short sigh and cursed for having to look for Nenene all by herself. Oh, _SURE_ her sisters would actually do anything to find that woman in a _bookstore district_! Anita just hoped that Michelle doesn't try to clean out everywhere she visits.

'Well, at least I know that Nenene's _somewhere_ in here…'

A shuffle turned her attention around to the right. Only a few steps away stood a kid around her age, a cap on his ('He's a boy, right?') head placed as if to obscure the face and facing one of the large shelves.

'That's strange –I didn't hear anyone else coming in here…' she pondered. Then, a small envelop that she couldn't remember seeing on the floor a moment before caught her eyes. 'Did he drop that? It's right behind him…'

Getting off the cart and picking it up, she announced to the young man- "Hey! I think you-"

The contents of the little paper container fell from under it as the boy turned around, and Anita's eyes widened instantly the moment they hit the wooden tiles below. Her surprise wasn't really generated by the unexpected drops, but rather from the image depicted on one of the three photographs.

'…Maggie…'

"…It went through…" the young man murmured below, and then faced her with a nervous look.

'…Maggie's nape and chest, zoomed.'

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seemed to be at a complete loss.

'…STALKER!'

"Y-you…" she began, backing up considerably. "Wh-what are you, a pervert?!"

The capped teen blinked confusedly.

Thoughts coming together more coherently (but no less angry), Anita continued heatedly while reaching inside her sleeve cautiously. "J-Just what are you doing with a picture of my sister's CHEST?! Are you one of _those_ guys who follow older girls around and-"

"…My camera…" he said in a low whisper. "…was set focused before I used it…"

"That's just BULL!" she spat out, and the lad in front of her flinched. "When I finish kicking your lying ass to a bloody-"

Anita then noticed a sudden change in the boy's expression, which looked as if he noticed something interesting on her face. Unnerved, she pursed her lips in discomfort.

He then briskly moved towards her.

Taken aback, she reflexively tried to sprint backwards and tripped, landing heavily on the tiles and raising a cloud of dust.

'Wha… what's he doing?' thought Anita with a hint of panic as he drew near, and clutched onto a sheet of paper drawn out and ready. 'I-if I hold this up to his neck at _just_ the right time, then…'

A graceful swoop, and his face was right in front of her.

The girl's breath hitched, and when she felt his arm brush against her side, a foreign sensation crept up and spread throughout. He's not… he isn't going to…

An immersive "…Hmm." was emitted from his mouth as he picked up a rather thick book beside her, scanning it intently.

Anita's face was the epitome of incredulous as the girl stared, then broke out a short, nervous chuckle. "H-ha… a book?"

"Anita?"

Her head rotated towards a shelf behind her, and a woman in her 20's emerged from the wall of novels a moment later. "Huh, it _was_ you. What're you doing on the floor, brat?" she asked with her arms crossed.

The girl's first reaction was to fire back an insult that would have made the entire parent population in the vicinity jam their children's ears shut, but then she remembered how her posterior ended up on the dirty wooden flooring. "Nenene! This perv-" she turned, only to find that the boy, the book, the photos, and even the envelope that was in her hand, was gone, without leaving a single trace.

"What the- that kid was right here! H-he stalked Maggie and…and…" she trailed off, face flushing.

Nenene raised an eyebrow, and replied in an amused tone- "A stalker? At the back of a bookstore? With you down on the floor? Oh, my dear Anita_-chan_!" hands flew onto hips, head shaking left and right. "You've been peeking at Michelle's romance novels when no-one else was around, weren't you?"

She exploded.

* * *

Junior was just outside when the unholy torrent of expletives boomed and shook the very core of his soul. He has never before felt so glad to be a Deep.

o

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thanks again for reading, everybody! And remember that you can feel free to criticize any mistakes you see in this story. The third chapter will probably come out earlier (like, a couple of days or so earlier) than the scheduled date (a month from now).

Also, here is a little alternate ending for this chapter that keeps bugging me (due to Junior's behaviour _sort of_ not fitting in with the rest of his portrayals in this fic).

**Alternate ending for chapter 2**

Junior was just outside when the unholy torrent of expletives boomed and shook the very core of his soul. And this was when the boy realized that he has never felt so glad to be a Deep... as he pocketed the photos protectively, almost letting the Gentleman Book slip.

For research, of course.


	3. The Seventh GraOHMYGOD!

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

o

Chapter 3

The young blond sighed as she lugged the grocery bags while leading a taller woman towards their building. "Auu… these are really heavy, Maggie-chan!"

Struggling with three bulky paper sacks, her sister managed- "M-maybe we shouldn't have bought so many o-oranges."

"But they were on sale! And you know how good of a dessert they make after Anita-chan's curr-"

Plop. Rrrrrrrrr…

"Oh!" exclaimed Michelle, carelessly handing her load to Maggie ("Ugnh…s-s-sis…") before sprinting to pick up the runway fruit…

Th-thump.

…only to stumble back in surprise as it stopped rolling right in front of a small body, lying face-down below the stairs.

"Mu…mu-mu-mu-mu…" Jutting her head back and putting a hand over her mouth, she screamed out- "M-murdeHOMICIDE!"

Her sister rushed to the scene after dumping the luggage (sweet relief!), and quickly placed herself between the two immobile figures. Crouching down, she carefully put her fingers onto the palm of the unmoving child, scanning for injuries while feeling for a pulse. "…You can relax, sis –He's not dead." She then cautiously turned the lithe body and started to gently shake. "Hey, hey… are you okay?"

The nudging seemed to have an effect, as the child started to awaken with a roll of the head. And it was this action that dropped the loosened cap, which caused a drape of elegant blue hair to burst out.

"…_She_'s not dead."

Michelle, who finally came out of her stupor, moved closer towards them and glanced.

"Aw, look at that bruise! And on such an adorable face, too."

By now the feminine young teen started to blearily look around in Maggie's arm. "Wha…" then, with a surprised face as eye contact was made- "Y-you're…"

"Are you feeling okay? You were knocked unconscious…" said Michelle, suddenly donning a concerned look.

"…Oh…" straighten, stretch, up. "I'm…fine, thank you."

Getting up herself, she replied "Really? You should probably lie down for a while, though… Oh, I know! You can come over to our place just around the-"

"Ah, NO! Really, I'm feeling just fine!" responded the child with panic-laced tone, as Maggie mentally shook her head at the obvious excuse for taking the kid home.

"Well, if you're sure…" reaching down, Michelle picked up the fallen cap and dusted it before handing the quite plain-looking thing back. "Here you go- although, a pretty girl like you shouldn't cover up your head with it…"

With a slight gape, the teen murmured in a hurt voice-"…I'm a boy…"

"…_He_'s not dead…"

* * *

'Oww…'

Junior gingerly fingered his bandaged forehead through the fabric of his heavy attire. What had started out as a simple bug-placing mission had turned into more embarrassing mishaps for the boy, all because he missed a step while phasing down onto the first floor. Seriously, how was a Deep supposed to land safely with such an unexpectedly low grumble grumble grumble…

He snuck inconspicuously into the library of Nishihama Junior High, taking care not to be spotted. According to that tracking device, that man should be somewhere around-

'Here.'

The man seemed to be in his 30s or 40s, dressed in a suit and wearing a nervous expression. Glancing left and right between the rows of shelves, he crouched down to carefully place a small item among the other-

The lad shot one at the wrist.

With a cry ringing along with the echo of the gunshot, he bent over and clutched at his injured appendage. And then, as Junior moved to retrieve what he came for…

"Hey, mister! Are you okay?"

Two small children scurried into the scene, streaks of dark blue and pink. As the duo surveyed the area, one of them gasped at the sight of blood pooling on the floor and promptly went back to get help, leaving behind the man with the-

'Isn't she… that girl back at the bookstore?'

Another shot, which came near-automatically as the _book_ was about to be handed over.

"T-take this… hi-hide it…"

She complied, and leapt.

'Darn, she doesn't look easy… Are those…papers?'

With a swish the floor was carpeted with sheets and sheets, strategically manipulated as the girl watched from above the wooden shelves like a hawk.

'That uniform… so she's a student here, then. Does she have anything to do with the _book_, or did she just get caught up in it?'

He then mistakenly made a fatal slip as the papers scattered under him flipped, and in an instant she pounced with something sharp flashing in her hand.

'…Quick…'

Junior aimed at her head and fired.

* * *

Leaping jerkily back, Anita let out a sharp breath as she threw away the bullet-ridden card. 'Damn, that was close!'

And soon after the assailant zoomed, reaching out to snatch the ('Ugh', thought Anita) book in her hand. Dodging, then parrying, the paper projectiles flew and missed their target, forcing the girl on the defensive. Turning a corner sharply as more bullets were narrowly avoided, she had to upturn several cases full of bound paperbacks in order to block the speedy hit-man who was all of a sudden above her. 'Well _this_ one's going to be hard to explain…'

With a piercing stretch, Anita managed to grab a hold of the darkly clad opponent and pulled.

"…What the…" she muttered in surprise as she faced a pair of hard eyes "You're just a kid, like me!"

Twist. Phase. Slip. In a blink of an eye, the other child somehow came out of her grip and made to take the item in her hand. Coming to her senses, she quickly jumped and backed away several feet as a great rush of air went past from the _snatching motion_…

Bang.

Only to stumble and hit her ankle against a desk that she would later claim to have never been there before.

"AW SONOVA-"

A clink was heard from the distance, and Anita wearily eyed the gunperson (Girl?) walking towards her. But as the pistol was clicked and adjusted with expert hands, her opponent seemed to have become strangely startled, staring at something on the right palm shakily.

'…? What's she holding?'

"ANITA!"

An arrow of paper rocketed and flung the gun away, and the girl turned towards the door to find her sister with a bow aimed at the child assailant.

"Michelle!"

The hit-man (Hit-woman? Hit-girl?), looking from the new arrival, to Anita, the ('Ughhh…') book she was still holding, then back to the palm again, donned a resigned expression and lowered both arms…

Pshhh…

'…And let out a smokescreen?!' she mused in a frustrated manner, rubbing her sore lower leg as footsteps echoed, then died.

A short while later, Hisami and her teacher arrived to find Anita being tended to by Michelle in a partially battle-torn library. As Michelle nervously fed them with a cover-up story, the younger paper master looked apologetically at her friend and approached...

'…Wha…?'

…Then felt a very _peculiar_ draft.

"…" Slowly reaching down to go unnoticed by the others, she patted with dread and confirmed her suspicion as her face went white.

'Holy CRAP!' she exclaimed mentally. 'That _**PERVERT**_ stole my froggy patterned-'

* * *

"So, they used _paper_, did they?" asked the blond man in the car.

Trying to calm himself, Junior answered in a steady voice. "Yes, sir."

A few words with Miss Wendy later, they instructed him to keep his eyes on the "Paper Masters" more closely while looking for the book within the area. He was barely able to respond, as the hastily hidden garment in his pocket kept coming back to his mind over and over and over again –After all, when you're physically a teenage boy and confused about many aspects of conventional social life, you tend to freeze, panic, despair, and become completely clueless as to what your next action should be after accidentally obtaining a-

'Panty…' thought the terrified boy. 'A g-g-girl's p-p-panty…'

O

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Howdy again! Here's the third chapter, and man oh man did I set it up to be a murder fic (Anita's feelin' homicidal!) with this one! And aw, don't be so sad about others mistaking you for a girl, Junior! I _believe_ in your manliness, you little cutesy mini-hunk!

As for that scene with Michelle being horrified with what she thought was a corpse (despite all the shady missions from Dokusensha)… well, I have a hunch that she considers children's deaths more shocking than others, taking her love of kids into account.

Again, expect the next chapter to be out in a month or so. Thank you for reading!

_Then the not-tree teen snickered while fading in darkness, anticipating the moment when the chapter where Anita finds out the panty-thief's identity will be written…_


	4. Day to day

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 4

"Man, it so boring out here…" muttered Tohru, strolling through the local park as he licked his ice-cream absentmindedly.

It was a fine day after the Saturday half-classes, and the boy found himself left to his own imagination for entertainment. Staying home on such a sunny afternoon was out of the question ("But mom-" "No buts."), and most of his friends were either busy with their own plans or lived too far from the park. Oh well, at least the ice-cream was good…

Then he bumped into another kid and dropped his double-decker.

"Ah, shoot!" he exclaimed. "Watch where you're go-"

She was beautiful.

Light blue hair shining angelically, the feminine figure before him let out a small gasp as a splotch of chocolate instantly soaked through her white shirt, chilling the skin underneath. The frame of perfectly smooth, blemish-free features nodding back in surprise, the child took a while to absorb the situation before raising her head to meet his eyes with an apologetic look-

"I said," managed Tohru, clenching his teeth as the figure in front of him took half a minute to react as described above. "Watch where you're going!"

"S-sorry…" she whimpered.

Harrumphing, the boy was about to leave when the girl spoke up again.

"Would you… like me to buy you a new one?"

Glancing sceptically, he took her offer. 'Humph… didn't expect that.'

Walking quietly back towards the ice-cream vendor, Tohru ordered another chocolate and the girl got herself a vanilla cone after staring at the available selections for some time. Holding the treat rather awkwardly, she started eating in a careful, delicate manner and the boy who was still beside her found himself glimpsing at the oddly behaving child.

Lick. Grip adjusted

'Huh… I thought she was going to freak at first, but she doesn't seem to mind getting her shirt stained.'

Lick. Averting eye contact shyly.

'In fact, she really did seem sorry when I yelled at her. Strange girl.'

Lick. Shifting slightly in discomfort.

'I guess she's one of those quiet, kindly types… Like Hisami.'

This line of thought suddenly made him think that he should be feeling guilty. He tried his best to not think about the implications as he silently went back to eating ice-cream with a pretty girl at his side.

"Err… you know…" Tohru began after a while.

The girl looked up from her vanilla nervously and turned towards him with sparkling ruby-red eyes.

"I… well, maybe I shouldn't have shouted. Sorry." he said, the last part coming out as gruff and short as possible for him. Then he left the girl briskly, feeling her staring confusedly at his back.

* * *

Junior sat hunched over on the park's bench, ice-cream long gone.

He thought back to the boy he met roughly an hour ago. Remembering his words, his varying tone throughout their short conversation, his lingering gaze that felt as if it had roamed all over him from the eyes to the lower legs…

'I…I never felt…' thought Junior, shuddering. '…so _scared and violated_ in my life!'

* * *

The sunset bled orange all across the sky, as people bustled to and fro the streets of Jinbo-cho on a calm Sunday evening.

"Ughhhhh…"

This girl, on the other hand, was more tired than calm.

Anita dragged herself and a shopping bag full of her sister's new books, feeling too worn out to complain or get angry. Figures that the first thing Michelle decides to do after coming back from that mission in the creepy castle involves going through the bookstore district again ('Where did she run off to, anyway?'), as if the many heavy volumes of foreign literature they brought with them wasn't enough. Aw, well- at least she restrained her from buying doubles this time…

"Anita?"

Upon hearing her name, she turned to find her recently-made friend walking towards her from a stationary store. "Hisa?"

The dark-haired girl tilted her head as she spotted the load Anita was carrying. "Um… good evening. How was that trip you went to?"

"Oh… it went fine. Me and my sisters just got back." she replied, smiling sheepishly.

The two chatted lightly as they slowly walked out of the district, Hisa filling her in on what she missed at school on Saturday and Anita musing about her bibliophile sisters in an almost sleepy way. The pre-night stretched on…

"By the way, did you come here alone, Hisa?" asked the small girl, eyes half open and shoulders sagged down to the lowest level, but concern evident in her tone.

"I often come here by myself. Why?"

"It's a good idea to be careful when you're by yourself- just a few weeks ago I met this guy who-"

"…to see you again!" came a familiar voice.

'Hmm? That sounds like Michelle…'

"Anita? Isn't that your sister over there?"

"…and bought these! Say, I happen to have a sister around your age- do you know anyone named Anita King in class?"

"Err…"

"Michelle? And…"

Hisami nearly jumped as her friend's head jolted up, her entire body shocking itself from droopy to awake and alert as she saw the boy who was talking with her eldest sister.

"Ah, Anita-chan! This is Junior-"

"You-you're that stalk-"

"Ah… you're that girl from the-"

"Who is he, Anita?"

"Anita! You know it's rude to point-"

"I-"

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU CREEPY STALKER!"

Smack.

* * *

Maggie poured herself some tea as she rubbed her eyes gently.

'Mm… that novel took me a while to finish…"

"…and the police found the man just off the coast of Australia after the…" blared the TV.

"My ears are starting to work fine again…" Sip. "Good thing, too- it felt kind of unpleasant to have trouble hearing myself…"

She then glanced around the silent kitchen and living room slowly, taking her time…

"Oh, NO!" Maggie exclaimed as she realized something, almost spilling her drink.

Going over to the couch quickly, the young woman flipped the channel just in time to catch the opening of The Simpsons. They were rerunning her favourite episode…

O

General Author's Note

Let's see- Junior thinks Tohru's a pervert, Anita thinks both Junior and that mysterious kid (also Junior) in disguise's a pervert, and Nenene thought that Anita was daydreaming in a perverted way back in the Toto book store (chapter 2)…

Oh boy, oh boy- you've caused quite a bit of trouble, Junior!

Expect the next chapter to be out a month or so from now, as usual. And thank you for reading!

_Heeheehee Muhaha Hohoho StrawberryFruitPunch Snicker-Snicker…_


	5. Pop, Mum, and the kids

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 5

Several months ago, in a land far, far away…

"Dad_dyyyyy!_"

The frail-looking man paused from his exchange with the teen behind the cash register, and adjusted a pair of large glasses habitually as he looked down towards the small girl beside him. "What is it, Jen?"

Little hands clutching a colourful, vibrant package, she replied- "Joyful Puffs! We ran out!"

Eyeing his daughter tiredly, the man let out an inaudible sigh. "Jenny, we've been over this- every single time we buy those, you get sick of them half way and leave them alone until they expire."

"But Dad_dyyyy_…"

The tone. The frown line. The crinkle of the daughter's face.

'Oy, oy- why do I even bother?' he thought, already reaching for his wallet.

After the purchase he set out on his way with little Jen in tow, glancing left and right of the bustling street as eyes glimpsed occasionally at a small note in hand. The address written on the crimped lined paper lead him to a cozy, wooden family restaurant.

"After you, dear." The man said with a smile, holding the door open for the child who barely reached the handle in height.

Settling down on the stools in front of the counter ("There- careful not to tip over."), they were soon greeted by a young employee who presented them with a rather elaborate menu book. In the process of trying to talk Jenny out of ordering the giant seafood platter he knew she can't finish (or stomach), his bespectacled eyes kept darting to and fro around the corners of the establishment until he spotted what he was looking for.

"Excuse me!" he called the employee. "I need to use the restroom, so do you mind keeping an eye on my daughter here?"

"Sure, no problem- I'm behind this counter most of the time, anyway." She replied nonchalantly.

Getting up after a word with the girl ("Behave."), he made his way into the men's room as he felt a heavy mental load being lifted off him, as least temporarily.

'It's hard being a single parent.'

Four stalls. He walked over to the second one as soon as he was inside, and knocked to make sure it was empty. Hearing no response, he quickly slipped in and slid the lock in place…

Dddrrrhhh…

…and opened the lid on the back of the toilet, then proceeded with carefully retrieving a plastic bag that barely hung on the _trigger_.

'It's hard_er_ being a single parent working secretly for the-'

"Mr. Corduroy." came the voice behind him, freezing the man. "The document." Short. Simple. Fatal.

'Drat- and I was so close…' he thought in his head, staring down at the memory stick inside the bag. This assignment was supposed to be easy- how did he or she (the voice didn't give anything away) get in here without making any noises?

Inching his other hand closer to the firearm inside the light coat, he turned to face the opponent. "Alright, big guy… I don't want to make any trou-"

The movements were beautiful- no efforts went to waste as the hands that reached executed the practiced manoeuvre perfectly.

Roland Corduroy was dead after a quick snap of the neck.

* * *

"Oh… ouch."

Leaning away from the screen in front of her, Wendy Earhart rubbed her eyes and reviewed her work. She spent the better part of the week, but they were finally finished- she just needed to confirm the minor details from the sources, and the report will be ready.

A small smile crept on to her face. It was a nice feeling, having completed something.

"Miss Wendy."

She turned to find her ward standing on the doorway, hands still on the handle. Looking strangely apprehensive, it was only after Wendy motioned him to come in did he step into the room.

"Welcome back, Junior." said the guardian. "Did you report back to Mr. Jok- Mr. Carpenter?"

A "Yes." accompanied the nod, and the boy pulled out a small envelop. "Here's the document."

Receiving it with a grin, she retrieved the card inside and inserted it to her computer. "Let's see what we have here… Ah, well…" turning to face him after a few clicks, she continued. "This is _much_ better then we expected- not only does it have the blueprints for their base in Hong Kong, but also the estimated budget and a list of possible subjects for the project. You did well, Junior."

A pause pervaded, and an unreadable expression crossed Junior's face as he took the complement. "…That's… I…" averting his eyes, he managed- "Thank you."

Wendy gave him a curious look. While Junior never reacted to anything in ways that were expected of… children his 'age', he wasn't usually this obvious with his discomfort. "Is something wrong?"

She then followed his eyes and noticed what he was looking down at.

"Miss Wendy…" the boy began, trying his best at meeting her eyes with his own, full of mixed feelings. "Does it… can you…"

Whatever it was, he looked ready to burst his dam.

"Junior." she said calmly. "Tell me."

She regretted it as soon as he painstakingly asked the question. "Can you… can you still feel as if… like there's something on your…" he then took a deep breath, as if gathering courage to continue. "as if there's something on your hand… kind of like… like _blood_. I mean, no, there wasn't any… there wasn't any in the first place… it was over quick… nothing spilled… there isn't anything on me. But then… why do I have it? Have…"

Warning bells and whistles rang and screeched in Wendy's head as she stared wearily at the now silent boy. This was going to be a problem.

'And delicate.'

"Junior…" she began.

Her hands gently rested on his shoulders, and Junior stiffened at the contact. Questioning red irises looking up to her face, he found the softest expression he ever saw from her, from anyone.

"You did well." she said, repeating her previous praise in a kind but firm voice. "Thanks to you, Mr. Carpenter will be ahead of his plans, and the _books_ will be gathered in no time. You did very well, more than we've expect of you." Then, as a finishing touch, she patted his head.

What she saw next stabbed her heart.

"Wh… M-mis… Thank you." Junior choked out with glistening eyes, showing in plain sight what she hoped she'll never have to see from him.

A child's love for a parent.

Mustering all her will power, Wendy told him in an even tone- "You can go to your room now, Junior. You must be tired."

Nodding, he shakily walked out of her office after an earnest "Good night.", closing the heavy door on the way.

Which was fortunate for Wendy, as her own dam broke.

'He doesn't… he doesn't deserve this…' she thought between sobs, face buried into her hands. '…this mockery of a life we gave him… h-he shouldn't be here… he shouldn't be under m-my care.'

She cried nearly too long, but stopped herself- Mr. Carpenter was going to be expecting her in about an hour and a half, and Wendy knew that she wouldn't be able to stay composed if she continued any longer.

'I have to stop. I have to stay strong about this… It's only going to get worse for him, and I need to follow the plans despite it.'

After all, if everything went as planned, than Junior was as good as dead- Mr. Gentlemen's vast mind will likely overwhelm and crush the boy's smaller one with ease.

* * *

And speaking of Dead Junior…

"I-"

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU CREEPY STALKER!"

Smack.

Michelle gasped. Hisami gasped. Anita gasped. Everyone in the entire vicinity of the crazy gathering gasped, save two- Junior, who felt a painful slap on his head and "Oww"-ed instead, and a tall, powerful-looking man whose face was covered with a large pair of shades and high collar, clutching in his enormous hand a single paper fan.

Sonny Wong was in town.

O

General Author's Note

I'm such a mood killer. Wheeeee!

Expect the next chapter to be out a month from now, as usual. And thank you for reading!

_Feels like I'm forgetting somethingamajig._


	6. Your Friendly Neighborhood

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 6

The tall figure strolled across the street, people parting all over him as he went through. His intimidating build and the menacing glint of the shades practically shouting out warning signs of trouble to even the most unobservant.

Tap tap tap tap...

Slurppppp...

Regardless of how colourful his choice of beverage was.

"Ah, Anita-chan! This is Junior-"

"You-you're that stalk-"

Turning his head to the ruckus, Sonny Wong was treated with an amusing sight. A crowd of young girls and a woman were together and seem to be near at starting a shouting match. He loved shouting matches- there was nothing quite like being excessively vocal.

"Ah… you're that girl from the-"

He frowned. That pale, blue-haired girl... where did he see her before?

"Who is he, Anita?"

He? Ah! Sonny then remembered- back when he was escorting key figures of Dokusensha for a private meeting, some representatives from the British Library came to meet them, along with that boy. As it was rather unprofessional to bring their children to such gatherings, he guessed that the kid was in the same line of work as himself.

Pop. Opening up the lid, he downed the rest of the slush in one gulp, scraping with his bendy straw. If that's the case, that means the little guy would probably need-

"I-"

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU CREEPY STALKER!"

Smack.

Here I go, he thought as people gasped. Despite his enormous build, Sonny appeared behind the child in a matter of a second, slapping his head with the ever-ready paper fan.

"Ow..."

The blue-haired boy turned his head toward him questioningly, and a look of recognition crossed his face.

Heh, don't worry, kid. I'll bail you out.

A blond-haired woman in the group hesitantly queried, breaking the silence- "Um, excuse me, sir. Did you just bop Junior-"

"A-A-A..." interrupted the pink girl. "A-A F-FLASHER?!"

He grimaced. Hey, just because I'm wearing a heavy coat that looks ready to burst, appear really suspicious, and quite possibly hiding a lecherous look behind this sunglass... Oh.

Sighing, Sonny Wong held his hands up.

"...You... surrender?" wondered the young woman, tilting her head.

"...Michelle, I think he means 'stop'."

"'Stop and listen'." finished Hisami.

The gigantic man then turned to Junior, crouched at his level, and shook a massive index finger, left to right, left to right...

"'No, no'?"

"'That was naughty of you'?"

"'Uh-ah'?"

"...?"

Sonny then surprised everyone in sight as he rested his hand on Junior's shoulder ("H-huh? Wh-") faced the others, and bowed.

"'Sorry'?" muttered Anita confusedly. "Wait- are you, like, his father or something?"

"Uncle?"

"Older cousin?"

"You're apologizing as his parent/older relative?"

Junior repressed the urge to shake his head. Do I _look_ related to this man?

Michelle then clapped her hands together in realization "Oh! You're his _babysitter!_"

Anita glared. "Michelle, he's around _my_ age. And DON'T YOU EVER THINK ABOUT GETTING _ME_ A BABYSITTER!"

"Guardian. You're his guardian."

Shrugging as he gestured "Kinda" with his hand, the large paper master faced Junior with a grunt.

Hisami chose this moment to take out her cellphone.

"Say, um, Stalker-san?" she asked. "Do you mind if I take your picture?"

Junior gulped lightly. Taking photos are a no-no for secret agents.

Anita looked at her strangely "A picture?"

"I... well, I never saw a stalker before..."

In his defense, Junior mournfully stared at his shoes and said in a small, tiny voice- "I'm not... I'm not a stalker..."

Coughing sounds were emitted from underneath Sonny's collar. Or was that a chuckle?

"Stalker?" Michelle joined. "Is he that boy you told me about, the one who's been following Maggie around?"

A vigorous nod. A nervous gulp.

"How cute! Looks like _somebody_ has a cruuuush on Maggie-chan!"

Anita slapped her forehead.

Sonny Wong nudged the boy and grunted again, louder this time. Junior understood and spoke. "Err, w-we have to get going now, actually. I have an... appointment."

_With guns. Lots of guns._

"Aw, now? Well, feel free to visit us anytime. You know our building." she then turned to her little sister. "Say 'bye' to Junior, Anita."

With a murderous look, she gritted out- "I'm going to be keeping my eyes on your scrawny ass, so you better watch out."

"Oh, my!" Michelle exclaimed, reddening.

Flinching fearfully, Junior murmured some apologies and nodded a farewell, hurriedly leaving with Sonny in tow. Only Hisami waved, as the paper sisters were... having a disagreement.

It was only after they turned two corners that Junior felt safe enough to speak out. "That... could have ended worse."

Grunt. Not with me around. Never.

"Thank you for the help back there."

Smirk. No problem, kid. Fellow perverted secret agents gotta stick together. Well, until they order a hit on the other...

Glancing at his watch, he continued- "Um, I really _do_ need to get to an appointment, so I should be leaving soon."

Hrrmphh. Don't sweat it, kid. And next time, you should be more careful not to get caught for your exploits.

"Thanks again. Goodbye." Tok tok tok tok...

"Swoosh, swoosh!", went the pair of large arms, waving expansively. See ya later! Maybe we can go peeking sometimes. I'll teach you the ways of pervert-ism and hone your skills!

'What a nice man' thought Junior, making his way to where Wendy was waiting. 'Kind of silent, though. I wonder if he's shy?'

* * *

Wendy's eyes twitched dangerously. "You... _lost it?_"

The tall brunette man in front of her fidgeted as he nervously smoothed his suit. "Well, it was more like... taken. I was just resting for a bit-"

"You mean napping on the job!" she growled.

"NO! I... it was just... right on me one moment and then gone the next! I looked around, and saw it poking out of this lady's shopping bag. It must have slipped in there when I passed her."

"And? Did you follow her?"

"Well, no. I'm not good at snatching things, and following her around waiting for the opportunity would make me look like a stalker-"

"YOU'RE A SPY! DAMN IT, ROGER- DON'T YOU HAVE BETTER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT THAN PEOPLE THINKING THAT YOU'RE A CREEPY STALKER?!"

"But, ma'am! No agent would just take being accused like that! We work hard to get things done and people are just going to mark us-"

"Oh, but _you_ weren't working hard. The _important, top-secret package_ that Mr. Carpenter _personally __ordered_ wouldn't be lost if you were, now would it?"

Roger paled as the gravity of the situation dawned on him.

Wendy rubbed her head. "Great. The case is gone and there's no clue at all about it's whereabouts in this enormous city. Just great."

"Um, actually... I did pick up a few things that woman said..."

He explained. They talked. He whimpered. She sighed. The two formulated a plan.

'Hmmph... Breaking in would be a problem... unless...' she lifted her head. 'No, he's going to be busy enough as it is. But... the case _is_ rather secure. They told me that it would take the latest in safe-cracking technology to open it without damaging the content.'

"Alright, Roger. Listen up."

He snapped his head to face her, albeit with fear.

"I'm going to inform Mr. Carpenter that the package is going to be delayed ('Whew!', thought Roger.). But you're going to have to make sure that if it happens to turn up in a pawnshop or a locksmith's at some point, you _will be retrieving it_. Understand?"

"YES, MA'AM!"

"Good. Now, are you sure you can't remember her face?"

"Sorry, but no. She was quickly picked up by her husband, so I never had a good look at her."

"And you're certain that the presents inside the shopping bag was for her daughter?" Nod, nod.

'Well, with his ability, it shouldn't take him too long to check each one, one or two places every night... And I suppose a package that secret could be 'delayed' for a few months. I just hope it's not urgent.'

"Okay, you can go now. But I want the list of _every family_ in the city that matches the descriptions you _do_ remember ready by tomorrow!"

He gave a quick salute and ran out.

Picking up and sipping her coffee ('Ugh, cold'), Wendy muttered disdainfully- "Junior's... going to be quite busy for the next couple of months or so..."

As Junior was about to enter the warehouse to meet up with his guardian, he felt a chill run down his spine. Hence the beginning of Operation Search All The Girls' Rooms In The Whole Friggen' City.

O

Note

Junior, Junior- is your power a gift... or a curse?

Either way, remember that with great power comes great Toy Web Shooter! Get your own now for only 999,999,998,999!


	7. The Beginning is Now!

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 7

Junior passed the hall quietly, occasionally glancing at the students around his line of sight.

"Waaah?! Really?"

"Of course! Haven't I always told you about..."

And during instances like these, he stopped to outright stare- taking in everything from their voices to the subtle gestures they made. Cocking his head slightly, Junior wondered why people put so much effort in talking about such mundane subjects (unless 'Department stores' and 'New headphones' are protective anti-firearm gears. It certainly sounded as if their lives depend on them) with each other.

_A blue haired boy crossed the field, walking up to them during their conversation. Alerting his presence, he promptly joined the two for the lunch hour-_

"...Hmm?"

Blinking, Junior pondered the short daydream sequence. Could he do that? Could...yes, he could- they were _right there_, his next assignment wasn't due until hours from now, and the new uniform he wore disguised him well enough. Just a few steps, get their attention, and...

"Well, see, they sell them pretty cheap these days, so..."

...and then...

"Ha! You're a _reeeal_ riot!"

'...I don't even know them.'

Nor did the boy get why he felt that he should.

_But... but just a few steps, get their attention, and..._

"Are you done with it? I need to..."

"...Hmm..."

He watched them. He took in their voices and subtle gestures. He continued to... observe.

Tap.

..._Until_ the clacking started.

Tap.

Tap tap tap tap...

Turning his head, the boy's eyes wearily moved toward the presence behind him.

A mop of pink.

"You're... a student here." stated Anita, her tone suggesting that she was chewing on barbed wire.

"I..." Lowering his head, he replied with a nervous nod. Junior, despite the fact that he can easily will himself to become practically invulnerable, felt intimidated by the short girl.

Tap TAP TAP TAP TAP... Anita's taps came louder and angrier as she saw the pair of upper-year students whom the young man was staring at. "You... _reeeally_ have something for older girls, don't you?"

"Something for... What do you mean, 'something'?"

Little miss King raised a brow. _Hint._

"As in, whatever urged you to ogle at them for who-knows-how-long." pause. "Ugh! Pervert..."

An unreadable expression crossed the boy's face, before he turned his attention back to the two sitting some metres away. "They're... Those two look close."

"Huh?"

"The way they respond to each other. The way they can... just _talk_ so comfortably... They're... I can't describe it..."

"Psh! They're just some goof-ball friends yammering with each other!"

Hearing that response, Junior showed what Anita will forever consider "The Third Most Scariest Shit I've Ever Saw".

* * *

Light chatter filled the classroom as the seventh grade of Nishihama Middle School spent their lunch hour. They yelped, they snickered, they sighed with dreamy expressions...

"Eh? What'd you-"

Well, one of them did, at least.

Hisami and a couple of her friends stared curious at Natsume- who sported a slightly goofy, slightly dazed look on her face, almost ready to slip off from her hand that supported the head. Now, this by itself wouldn't be too strange of a sight, considering her reputation as the class "Over-dramatic Classmate Archetype II", but...

"Natsume?"

"...Heh..."

"...So, I read some romance fictions lately and..."

"...Hmm? Did you say something?"

She hasn't yet made her daily declaration of love for her sister's novels and their greatness, _even with prompts._

"Oh, shoot. I think she's broken." murmured the girl's classmate.

Giving her own hands a squeeze, Hisami pondered what Anita (who wasn't in the room at the moment) would do in this situation. An image of knocking the daydreaming girl on the head came to mind as her fingers twitched by impulse, but she decided that a less physical solution would suit her best.

"Eh, Nishizono-san?" she inquired.

"...Mm..."

"Did something happen after school yesterday? You're not... acting like you usually would."

Natsume's eyes widened noticeably, a manic glint dancing around them. "Yes...yesterday...?"

Then the story began.

"Yesterday. Yesterday after my wonderful sister -my talented, talented sister, who I love more than anyone in the world- picked me up from school, she told me of a little surprise that's been prepared for me, waiting at home. Nearly bursting with happiness and glee, the short ride felt infinitely longer."

"When the two of us arrived and came into the living room, there on the table was a small, delightfully wrapped package, a card with my name on it pinned to the top. How wondrous it looked! And I haven't even opened it yet..."

"Glancing from the pair of kind eyes of my sister (wonderful, wonderful sister!) to the present before me, I carefully unwrapped the deliciously decorated gift... And what do I find but the _first edition_ of the side story to 'First Love- Now it's Begun', entitled 'Love First- The Beginning is Now!'"

"I was ecstatic! _Everything_ during the rest of that afternoon, from the smiles on our faces to the crinkle of the wrappings, was simply magical! The entire living room was overflowing with tangible lightness as we spent the day..."

"But the best was yet to come, and oh, the best came, indeed! As dinner was being prepared, I went toward my room to get ready and perhaps take a peek at a few pages of the book, when... a stroke of misfortune..."

"Or good fortune? Oh, yes- Good Fortune, it was! By some dastardly force beyond comprehension, my balance was taken away from me, and I instantly found myself about to take a blow to the head by the wooden frame of my bed! Is this it? Will I die without having read all of my sister's books? Ah, goodbye, my dear sister (awesome, spectacular sister!)..."

"Then suddenly, I was stopped short... by a pair of lean, gentle arms. Unfamiliar, by the way they felt. Comforting, from the protective way I was held. Mysterious, as the limbs that supported, the chest that leaned, and the mouth that let out a soft sigh in relief seemed to have just... materialized."

"And then... after gathering enough courage to turn around, I was rewarded... with the most _intoxicating_ gaze I ever saw from a pair of _beautiful_ ruby red eyes, sunset glistening off wondrously. Revealed through a gap on a mask wrapped tightly to his head, I could have stared at them for well over an eternity."

"The boy... he started to... he spoke to me in this deep, rich voice- 'Are you okay?'... Am I okay? Was I okay? No, I felt _much more_ than 'Okay'! Although getting out of his hold was almost painful, I did so and stood up to thank him, to ask him who he was, to... to..."

"...It was at that moment when I was called from downstairs. Dinner. I promptly rushed to open the door and answered back. I-I'll come down! Um, give me five minutes! Ten! I'll... come down..."

"'I have to go.'"

"Turning back, the boy was nowhere in sight. He vanished."

"How... could this be? An unknown figure shows up in my room without prompt, saves me from a fall most dreadful, and disappeared in an inconceivable manner, without a... No, he left a trace. I saw him. I felt him. He's a..."

"A mysterious being of... of a fantastic, _phantom-like_ existence! And his last words- 'I have to _go_'... A _man on a mission!_ I... It's just indescribable. It's exciting beyond exciting. It's..."

"It's love. It's _love!_ It's-"

Tok drrrrk. Tok tok.

"It's LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE!"

RRRRIIINNG!

By now, everyone in the class was gathered before the girl, including the teacher (who said nothing of his student standing on her desk). Murmurs ran throughout.

"Excuse me."

And nobody paid attention to Hisami as she slipped out of class. Sure, she found the _mysterious figure himself_ pretty interesting, but...

"BLEAACHHH!"

For nearly half an hour, a retching noise was heard from the washroom closest to the seventh grade class. And the Legend of the Masked Phantom was born!

* * *

"Psh! They're just some goof-ball friends yammering with each other!"

Junior's expressions... were truly genuine. No hints whatsoever of "joking around" or ulterior motives could be seen on them at all. They were pure.

And that is why when what he said registered...

"_Anita was found all alone."_

...as true confusion crossed his face...

"_Nobody seemed to really care."_

...she saw a glimpse...

"_It must have been rough for her."_

...of how she might have turned out.

"_What would have happened... if she never had a family?"_

Genuinely...

"...Friend?"

Short.

Simple.

Genuine.

"...Oh, god..."

His question implied... certain things about his upbringing. And it scared the crap out of her.

"...?"

"What does it-"

"...OOOVVVVVEEEEE!"

RRRRIIINNG...

...Tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok...

...An afternoon at school.

"Oh! We better pack up, Yomi!"

The bell beckons.

"Can't be late today! Too much to..."

Students bustled.

"How is it over already?!"

And ran.

"...I... I should get going..."

* * *

That night, a little girl came up to her sisters. She hugged them.

O

General Author's Note

Huh, this one's longer than usual.

...And here's an extra scene to make it even longer! Go go go!

**Extra Junioriffic Scene of Greatness, Engage!**

Within the Nishizono residence, the dastardly force beyond comprehension cackled.

"..."

But not really, since banana peels don't come with a mouth. Put your trash in proper receptacles, Junior!

**Extra Junioriffic Scene of Greatness, Disengage! That Was Awesome!**


	8. Junior

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 8

Peaceful.

"...Liberation Zone by Nenene Sumiregawa. The reason I read this book was because..."

Feeling the wind brush against him, the boy closed his eyes as the soft breeze went through, fluttering the long, blue locks. The roof was peaceful.

"...and free. The protagonist, although seemingly docile, was in a way constantly haunted by doubt and insecurity..."

He still had no luck in the school library, having upturned it several times already. Okay- no trouble. He'll find it, like he was ordered to.

"...but the style that the second chapter employed allowed for the building of..."

Taking out a simple lunch, he began to eat as he pondered that word again. That word, that word... He was curious about that word. He asked Wendy about it yesterday on the ride home from his errand.

She didn't answer.

"...largely from the portrayal of the minor and supporting characters, even going as far to..."

She didn't answer. She... might not have heard him. So Junior...

Crunch, crunch. "...Ham...?"

So Junior...

"...suggests that he avoids the problem. Or rather, doesn't try to think about it at..."

Junior sat. The question wasn't repeated.

POP.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap...

"Heh..."

"Very good, Anita! Now, who would like to go next?"

"You were great! That was really well-written."

"Um, Michelle! I think you should stop clapping now..."

Blinking, Junior stared at the can that burst from his hand. Its content was everywhere.

"My Dr. Pepp-"

Sighing, Junior got up and dropped it off at a nearby bin, then was struck with an idea and phased. It dripped off him, and Junior felt a bit of pride seep in for finding a third practical, non-combat use for his intangibility (Second- Unrestricted movements. First- phasing out of itchy diapers.). But as he stretched, he found to his horror...

Stains on his clothes.

Irked, Junior narrowed his eyes at the dark, sugary splotches that clung uncomfortably to his uniform. He liked his uniform.

"...I'm going to kill you." the boy coldly whispered to the wet patches, his tone promising a painful death.

The stains defiantly remained.

After seething a while longer, Junior finished his lunch grumpily and left the school's roof. The spare clothes he hid (just in case things got bloody) should be around...

Chaff chaff chaff.

Groan. It soaked through his underwear.

RRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG...

* * *

"Coach! We're really missing some!"

"Didn't we put it back yesterday?"

"What? You're sure? Alright, than- Tohru, go get the extra balls!" said the scraggly man.

Nodding to the coach, he went off to the storage room inside the main building. Ah, baseball- the rush of the throw, the swish of the swing, the satisfying smack as the bat lands a juicy hit...

Drrrrktt. Clop.

She was still beautiful.

Hair shining in an ethereal way from the lighting provided by the small window of the storage room, the blue-haired girl was as breath-taking as ever. And, my oh my, was his eyes deceiving him? He came in just in time to see something being shed from her, as if molting, sliding. As if melting off. It was only when her naked backside seem to gleam as she shifted that he realized those were what she was wearing. Her legs came together as the cold air of the dim, cramped room met skin, and shoulders partially covered by a long, bluish drape shrugged, contracting her lean figure. Delicate-looking fingers started to stretch out to what seemed like a fresh pile of clothes lying on a box beside her, and the girl bent down slightly to reach for it as her hips jutted toward the doorway...

But _then_ the beauty turned to the entrance and Tohru's world came crashing down as he saw what the other occupant had.

"WAH!"

And with that yelp, Junior landed with a thud on the hard floor, clutching his uniform as he hastily covered himself. Shrinking back, the boy glanced fearful at the other occupant whose disturbing expression unnerved his soul greatly.

"A... w-w-whoa... eh...?" managed Tohru, hyperventilating.

'Oh, no!' thought Junior. 'he's that pervert from before! And... and he's making strange moaning sounds...'

Jaw slacking, vision roamed the scared figure frantically. "I... you're that... no, g-g-gir... You're..."

The nude agent cringed in fear. 'Ahh no, no he's staring at me! W-what was I... What am I supposed to do against a p-pervert? Um, uh, I got to think back to survival training- play dead? Do I play dead? That doesn't sound right...'

Then, it got worse. For Junior.

"Hey, Tohru! What's taking you so long?"

"Did someone just scream?"

Those words were the only warning they had before two boys in Tohru's class entered the scene, and instantly gaped. Incredulously looking from their classmate, then to the feminine figure shuddering in terror, and back to Tohru again...

"...Tohru, what-"

"The HECK are you doing with-"

"Dude, I thought... well, Hisami-"

"Hisami...?"

It was at this moment that Tohru broke out of his stupor.

"Please don't... don't..." Junior whimpered, eyes clenched.

"What... No! Guys, er, let's get out of here. He... she needs to... out, out..."

Drrrrktt. The three left as the confused boy closed the door behind them. Blinking, the remaining young man stared blankly at the now less-crowded room.

"Hey, don't we need to get the _balls_-"

Picking up this piece of the conversation and not wanting to take any chances, Junior hurriedly grabbed his things and phased out of there. Relief washed over him as he quickly moved within the wall, then turning away from the storage space...

Tap.

"Huh?"

"Hey, who's-"

...he ended up in the girl's changing room.

* * *

Tick tick tack tick tack tack tick...

"...pursuing further funding, after the attempt at a merger." Wendy finished. "Great, it's done. Save!" Control-S.

Click click. Whshhh...

"Oh? Ah, you're back. Have you found any... Junior? Junior. Is something wrong? Junior? Ju... Junior! Are you... crying? Junior! Tell me what's-"

For a brief moment, a teary-eyed Junior wondered if the problem at school today were the kind of problems you're suppose to share with a parental figure. He squashed the thought.

O

General Author's Note

Am I the kind of not-tree to make another overdone joke about how the main peeper of this chapter is shocked to find that the effeminate dude has a bigger- oh, never mind.


	9. The Sighing Agent J

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 9

Crumpled, a mound of sheet lay unmoving on the bed. Curled up from the top view, silky strands of blue were splayed out on the upper lump, blanketing the pillow and some hanging off the edge of the mattress.

Beeee…

Bee-BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…

And as the alarm that sounded like emergency signals often heard in action movies rang irritably, the mound began to squirm and shift. One moment the lump curled tighter, somehow showing hints of skin as it seemed to phase out occasionally, then turned as if facing toward the clock.

"…?"

"…?!"

Junior sprang up in surprise as the other occupant clicked the noisy contraption off.

"Good morning, Junior." said Wendy nonchalantly, turning to the boy.

He blinked confusedly. "W-Wen… Good morning."

She stood, gazing down at her ward who stared back, a few hair strands draping down his face and sheet hung loosely on his shoulder and tangled to the legs. The guardian tried a soft smile.

"Ah, sorry for barging in, Junior. But I'm out of blanks, so I was wondering if you had some left over? I really need it right now."

Junior mouthed something silently, and then settled for a small "Oh." Stretching out his right arm, he sunk it through the cabinet beside the bed.

Shuffle-shuffle.

Muffled shuffling ensued.

"…I got it…"

Shuffle shuffle-shuffle.

Rustle.

"Here you go." said Junior, handing her a box of disks.

"Thanks."

"…"

Wendy shifted her attention to the box, although it was just as likely that she was staring at it to avoid eye-contact. The suddenly awakened boy wondered why she seemed to be lingering.

Slowly facing him again, the guardian started. "So…"

"So how did the search go last night? You were already asleep when I got back."

"Ah, well… There is nothing to report. I marked off three places, no trouble." He answered, averting his eyes. "The lists are on the table. They had surprisingly light security."

"I see. Good job."

"…Thank you."

"…Mmph… Dinner?"

"Leftovers. They were good."

"Yes, they were."

"Yes …Um…"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

"Hmm."

Her attention shifted once more (or just her eyes). "Well."

Gaze.

"Well, I better get back to work." Nod. She turned to the door. "You should get ready soon, Junior."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Click.

He sat a moment longer…

"…"

…And dropped back to the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"…I got it…"

* * *

The silence of the night was broken, or at least to a small degree, by a small shuffling sound in the dark room. A lone figure was half crouched in front of the bed, and half through it, flashing a tiny flashlight.

'…Boxes, lint, magazines, lint… Yarn? …No, lint.'

Shuffle.

'No case.'

The figure slumped down, tiredly.

'No case…'

Splayed, on the dusty flooring.

Click.

A sudden light flooded the room and spilled under the bed, alerting the agent there.

"Gosh, where could it be?" said a voice.

'…Someone… here…' a soft sigh came out the mask.

Phase.

Junior was falling, through the floor and from the ceiling of the bottom level. No air rushed past him, no fabric fluttered, and limbs just hung limply. He fell.

"What's taking Yomi so lo- OH MY GOD!"

'…Her friends are here? Darn…'

The boy landed gently with a crouch.

"Holy shoot… Is that the Masked Phant-"

Standing up shakily, he slowly glanced around his surroundings. Snacks. Table. That girl from school. More snacks. Movie. That other girl from school. Door. Gaudy wallpaper…

…Ah, Door.

Ignoring the stunned and shocked occupants of the living room, the most trained and deathly stealthy spy in his age group walked out through the designated exit, and left the Bikinis-Only Friday Movie Night head down, shoulders slumped.

He wasn't feeling well these days.

O

General Author's Note

Blah-blah blather-blabber. Hey, there! Here's the ninth.


	10. She spied a spy

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 10

Hisami stared at the crouched figure.

Whoosh.

Hisami stared at the crouched figure, knees drawn to his chest and head buried. And once the initial surprise of finding him on the roof passed, she noticed something shiny sitting beside him, keeping the boy company.

A pair of binoculars.

Now, she wasn't the type to get suspicious easily, but he was equipped for spying and facing the windows of the building's other wing. The side with...hmm. Squint squint. Yes, the side with her classroom, if that blob of pink that she can sort of see in the distance was any indication. Heh, that stubborn Anita. She just had to insist on staying for clean-up duty herself when it would go much faster with my help. Hey, hey! Careful with that half-broken shelf! Or is that the other one? Its hard to tell from this far away...

Groan.

She was startled as Stalker-san began move, head jerking back up.

"Stay focused. I've got worked to do." he mumbled, grabbing the binocular and putting it on. It was pointed toward where she suspected it was pointed toward.

A smile formed on her face. Wow, a stalker in action! She reached for the device in her pocket to take a picture, but stopped as she remembered last time. He didn't look very keen on getting one taken back then... Hmm, maybe she should ask first?

Getting closer, she was about to tap him on the shoulder when Anita's warning came back to her. Shortly after the first time she saw him, her friend told the girl to be extra cautious around him and avoid the boy altogether if possible. Well... I'm sure Anita will understand... I mean, how often do you get a chance like this?

But she did know that she should be cautious. Hisami looked around briefly for something to defend herself when she found the answer digging into her shoulder. Smirk. Ah, nothing like a lethally heavy volume of War and Peace in your bag to smash with. Shuffling a bit and getting it ready to swing when needed, she called for him as softly as her enthusiasm will allow.

"HEY, STALKER-SAN!"

* * *

'Huh?' thought Anita. Did she just hear something?

* * *

He panted.

Hisami beamed as she stood over the shocked boy who lay below, clutching his heart. Great! Now she can...

...Oh, crap. In her excitement, she overlooked how he would stop the very thing she was trying to photograph. Crap crap crap. Her expression darkened, as she thought about what she should say. Maybe she could get him to pretend that he's still alone and resume spying?

As for Junior, he was horrified. His recent lack of success in his missions were getting him down, making him feel incompetent. He never had so much trouble finding anything before! And now this girl (who began to acquire a homicidal look on her face) managed to sneak up on him without notice...

Plip.

The dark-haired girl was still in thought. Would he comply with her request? Didn't seem likely. Maybe... maybe she can threaten to tell people? Oh... oh, wow. Blackmail. She never held so much power over someone before! Staring at the bag in her hand, Hisami realized that she was even better armed, as far as she knew. Hmm, maybe she should give him a good whack to show that she's serious about the threa-

Wow. Just wow. She haven't ever hit anyone before, especially not to get what she wants. It was a very tempting scenario, and the adventurous streak repressed by shyness within her was acting up. Hehe... oh, what shouuuld I doooo?

Glisten.

...Huh?

Plip plip.

What the... is he crying? Wow, and I haven't even done anything yet!

Glisten. Plip plip plip. Sob plip plip plip sob sob sob sob...

...Uh oh.

Hisami looked around nervously, unsure of what to do as the boy buried his face in his hand and leaked tears. "Um, ar-are you alright?" She felt like kicking herself as she asked.

"Wh-"

Despite her apprehension, she got closer.

"Wh-why can't I..."

"Why can't I do anything right?!"

He had jobs. Jobs to be performed efficiently without a problem. And they were there, somewhat, as he performed. They taught him, they instructed him, and they smiled when he was successful. Yes, as long as he was successful, he was needed. As long as he was needed, he was accepted. Accepted by the people in the headquarter. By that man who taught him sharpshooting. By that doctor who examined him. By Mr. Carpenter. By Wendy.

...He was given his assignments months ago. He hasn't found the book yet. He hasn't found the case yet. He was getting no clues. He kept dreading to report to Wendy every night. He kept dreading to hear Wendy assuring him that he will get them eventually because that just means he hasn't finished yet, and he failed again that day.

Failed. Unsuccessful. He was not successful. Not successful, and not needed. Not needed, and not accepted. Not accepted by that man. Not accepted by that doctor. Not accepted by Mr. Carpenter, Wendy, or anyone.

Why would they accept him? He couldn't even hide himself from this girl, when they taught him so well for all these years...

"..."

He felt pissed.

"I'm sorry." the boy muttered.

Slowly, he uncovered his face and revealed to Hisami a hard, tight expression. She took a step back in fright as he got up.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, tone oddly neutral. "but I can't let anyone else know. I can't risk you telling anyone else."

He dabbed his face with a sleeve and continued.

"I can't fail. I have to keep spying for Miss Wendy. I can't let people know and stop me." He was getting closer.

Hisami was scared. Not once did she thought he could look so intimidating. Drawing her arm back, she was about ready to swing when he gripped her wrist at an impossible speed. The girl was stunned with fear.

His eyes stared, almost glaring at her. Then he closed them solemnly, and repeated yet again.

"I'm sorry. But I want to be needed."

Her eyes widened. 'Want to be needed?'

Junior's other hand reached up toward her neck...

O


	11. Being Alone and Cluelessness

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 11

_Six years ago._

The living room was quiet.

As the girl shifted from time to time in her seat, her eyes would follow the hands ticking. Ticking and ticking away.

"Late. Very late."

Like they often were. Swinging her legs a little on the couch, she leaned back to stare at nothing. It wasn't hard, considering how dim the room happened to be.

Rustle rustle.

She briefly glanced towards the light switch and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

_Five years ago._

Ring ring ring...

The girl stopped her work as the ringing echoed throughout the room. Putting her pencil down, she got to the phone and answered.

"...Mm-hm. Okay. No, it's alright."

"..."

"Really. That's... great. Mm-hm. I did."

"...I see. Okay, then. I'll... see you later. Bye."

Click.

Blankly looking at the plastic encasing, she soon left it for her desk. Then picked up the...

"Eh..."

Click click.

She scribbled and flipped. Lightly pounded with her finger. Ran lines though the sheets. And flipped, flipped, flipped...

She put it all aside when she finished, then picked at the shelves to flip some more.

* * *

_Three years ago._

"Nnnngh..."

Struggling, the girl shrugged her shoulders as the straps dug into them painfully. Having made her way into the doorway, she unhanded one strip to grab her keys.

Jingling, the keys...

Crrr...

Shuffle shuffle.

Rattle rattle shuffle.

She was getting annoyed.

Rattle rattle shuffle.

Rattle rattle fiddle shuffle.

RATTLE SHUFFLE SHUFFLE.

...Click.

Finally, she got in. Shedding her bag, the girl smiled tiredly and hummed as the door was shut closed.

A new reading lamp waited for her.

"Happy birthday..." she murmured to herself.

* * *

_Ten months ago._

A breath was sharply taken through gritted teeth.

"Aw, sh-"

The bruise was darkening, and the thin gash was starting to leak red streaks. Shakily getting up, the girl limped her way to the cabinet.

Drrrr...

Shuffle shuffle.

...Shuffle.

"Where... is it..."

Shuffle-shuffle shuffle SLAM.

She checked the other ones.

Shuffle shuffle.

Shuffle.

And found it.

"...We're almost out of it..."

Her head rose slightly.

"...I'm almost out of it."

The girl smiled weakly at the pun.

* * *

_A few days ago._

"Sorry, dear." The woman said. "I know we've been missing out on a lot of these, but..."

"It's okay." the girl replied flatly.

Glancing at her husband who looked back worriedly, she turned again to her daughter with a smile and patted her shoulder. "We should be back by next morning. How about taking you to that place on the next street? We can have breakfast together."

The child nodded, and after a brief goodbye, they left.

"It's okay." she repeated as she locked the door. "I know you two are busy."

They were always busy.

Walking into her room, the girl began to pack her school supplies. She was up pretty early, so there was no need to hurry. Gathering up what she had to take with her, the bag was slowly filled...

Shuffle.

Her lips thinned, as her hand traced over her homework. She checked, rewrote, checked again, and added an entire paragraph last night right before bed, wanting it to be as good as she can write it. Carefully placing it inside to prevent wrinkling, she zipped the pack shut.

They were always busy.

Exhaling heavily, she made no move to leave her desk. Expression tightening, the girl sat down tiredly.

And saw it standing there.

"They always miss it."

Expressionlessly, with a simple lash of her hand, the lamp fell off.

It smashed against the hardwood floor.

Silently grabbing her bag, she left the room and made a mental note to clean it up. The walk to school would be calming, and by the time she reach her classroom, the girl will be ready.

Hisami had a book report to present.

* * *

_Now, on the rooftop._

* * *

Junior was confused.

'Warm', thought the boy. The grip was firm, but not tight. The weight was pressed against him, but not forcefully. His restraining hold... loosened, and the hand dropped.

Being hugged was an unfamiliar sensation to him.

"Hey." Hisami called out, sounding slightly muffled. Straightening her head to make eye contact, she seemed to study his face.

"Don't you just hate it when you want to be needed?"

Junior stiffened.

"And they're always busy? Always have work to do."

"Don't you hate it when you come second, after their work?"

He had no reply for her.

"You just sit there and... it's just so quiet at home..."

"I hate it too."

Junior then noticed her eyes glistening, and his confusion deepened.

"I hate it too." she said again, back to... 'leaning on him', as Junior labelled what she was doing.

He felt like he was sort of getting what this is about, but was still mostly confused. Completely forgetting that he was about to... _silence_ her right before he was interrupted by her 'leaning on him', he stared on at the scenery as he tried to search for the words to say in a situation like this.

Clop clop clop.

...Then he saw that big, tall man with the high collar and sunglasses entering his vision, just a few meters from him. Hisami seemed to be oblivious of this as the other two occupants of the rooftop stared at one another, both startled. What was his name? Sunny... Sony... Robert... Hmm, was it Robert?

His surprise fading, Sonny Wong looked from Junior, to Hisami's back, to Junior, to his watch, then to the two in front of him again. And although he had no way of telling, Junior thought that the man had a contemplative expression hidden behind his coat.

The boy's mind then went blank as Sonny's hands rose up, made a fist, and stuck his thumbs out.

'Today... must be the most confusing day I've ever had.' Junior thought, quietly observing the heavily coated man as he began to make other strange gestures, sometimes adding thrusts that the boy felt like he should be appalled by.

O


	12. BLEEPed by the Night

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 12

"Hm?"

Glancing toward the corner to his right, he straightened from his leaning position against the railing. There was... someone watching him.

Gathering herself, Anita stepped out. Establishing eye contact with the blinking boy, she approached him steadily.

No more catching sight of him and pretending she didn't.

No more turning extra turns to avoid his path.

No more running from a reminder.

She was Anita King, dammit!

"HeEY."

Shoot, my voice. Crap.

"Hey." she tried again.

Junior merely stared and... gave her a small "Hello."

"Ah. How are you doing?" Anita wanted to punch herself as soon as she asked.

The boy stared on.

She continued. "Hmph. Haven't seen you in a while."

Tilting his head, Junior corrected her. "You saw me on the other side of the hall a day before yesterday. Then turned away."

Crap. Crap crap crap he noticed. Darn this blunt smart-ass.

Realizing that her line of sight strayed, she turned to him again determinedly. "So HEY, what're you doing?"

Stare.

"Er, do you hang out with anyone?"

Stare.

"...You know..."

"There's been some jerk going around trashing the library. It's a real pain, since my friend Hisa works there."

Junior opened his mouth slightly, only to close it shortly after.

"But that's strange, considering how good the security system is. And the locks don't seem to have been tampered with. Kind of like some phantom or something poked around there."

'...Phantom?'

"So me and a bunch of others from my class are going to keep watch at night in there and... I don't know, catch a poltergeist, I guess? So yeah, we're going to hunt some poltergeist."

"Well, we'll be doing it tonight, so if you're not busy or anything, you can come over or... whatever..."

The boy spoke up curiously. "Poltergeist hunt?"

"If you're not busy." she repeated. "Drop by or something. You should... be around others more."

It took a minute, or perhaps two, of Junior and Anita's time, spent in silent contemplation and looking like they were measuring each other up. Anita then caught the double meaning in the statement "measuring each other up" and crossed her arms, looking red and away.

"Peh. Perv..." she murmured, ignoring the fact that it was her who imagined it.

"I understand." Junior suddenly replied, causing Anita to whip her head back. What? Does he finally understand how much of pervert he's be- Oh, right. The poltergeist hunt.

Unperturbed, the agent continued sounding neither enthused nor apprehensive. "Tonight at the... library. I'll come."

"Heh, alright..." the girl trailed off, then donning a more serious expression, she began in a dangerous tone- "But I'm warning you. You better not try anything funny- Hisa and a bunch of my other friends aren't going to like it if you do."

Junior looked blank. "Funny? You and... 'Hisa' don't like jokes?"

At first she seemed exasperated, but then her expression softened to an almost saddened face. "Ah, no. I-I just meant that you shouldn't try anything perverted, and... well, I suppose you wouldn't do that with so many people watching..."

"Perverted...?" whispered the boy. "Trying something... perverted."

"Huh?"

"I understand." he responded crisply with a nod as if he had received a mission from Mr. Carpenter. "I will refrain touching, groping, kissing, or putting my genitalia in contact with a part of a person in a way that would be considered inappropriate, sexually, as well as avoid verbal remarks deemed grossly sexual such as commenting on the size and shape of certain parts, making embarrassing guesses regarding another's state of arousal, and proposing that someone, along with myself, should engage in multiple-orgasm inducing act of oral sex under a starry night sky."

Anita... said nothing.

* * *

Hisami was having fun.

Gathered together in the dimly-lit library, waiting in anticipation for a supernatural phenomenon with a group of friends, enjoying the forbidden pleasure of snacking behind a volume of horror fiction in a no-food zone...

"GAH this is so freakin BORING!" Tohru complained out loud, running his hands over his head.

"Now, Tohru-dear..." Hisami chastised playfully. "You should keep it down or else the phantom will be scared away."

Amidst Anita's giggle, Tohru snorted and stood up. "Meh, whatever. I'm going to stretch my legs before it gets numb." Clop clop.

"Looks like he's already chickening out and running away" Anita whispered. Natsume rolled her eyes.

Cli-click.

The group simultaneously jerked their heads at source of the sound.

"It's... it's coming." said Anita, licking her lips.

"Here? Now?! Where's the camera?" shuffle shuffle.

"So," Hisami murmured softly, narrowing her eyes and cracking her knuckles. "That messy-as-hell 'poltergeist' thinks it'll dump the reference books with the short fictions again, does it?"

_...tear out the limbs and rip the-_

Tap tap...

"Achoo!"

The gathering blinked. Do phantoms sneeze?

Rounding the corner, the revealed figure turned out to be, of course-

"Santa!"

No.

"Junior!" Anita called. "You're late! And Ren, today ain't Chrismas!"

Junior looked apologetic even as he gave out an excuse. "Um, you never told me to be here at a specific ti-"

"Yeah, yeah." she interrupted him, waving her hand. Smirk.

Hisami beamed. Stalker-san is here? As she left him on that rooftop, she wondered when he'll turn up again. It was kind of worrying, since as a stalker he would be difficult to find in most cases (right?). Hm, come to think of it, the boy was frantic when he asked her to keep the fact that he was there a secret. Heh. He wants to keep stalking Anita-chan around unnoticed? So obvious...

"Hey, he's that guy you mentioned before?"

"He?"

"Nice to meet you! I'm Natsume Nishizo-"

"Huh? Hey, haven't I seen you somewher-"

Clop clop.

"Hm? What's going on?" Tohru queried, coming back from his walk to find...

"..."

A pair of thought processes screeched to a halt.

"Ah, Tohru-chan! This is Stalk-"

"Wh-wh-wha..." the boy gurgled at the equally stupefied Junior. "Uh-um..." gulp. "You're... H-hi, th-"

"Wah..."

In a matter of seconds, to everyone else's surprise, Junior cringed and hid behind Hisami.

"Uh, um... Stalker-san? What..."

"Pl-please. Don't... don't..." he whimpered

"H-hey, Junior? What's wrong?" normally, Anita would punch a hole in his head for clinging to Hisa, but he looked seriously freaked out.

Then, it got worse. For Tohru.

"Oh, man! Now I remember! He was with Tohru-"

"Yeah, in the storage room-"

"W-with him-"

"Naked-"

Mumble mumble mumble...

"J-Junior?" Anita called, looking haunted along with Hisami. They heard the mumble, but... Did Junior just say...

"_P-please don't molest me."_

Things clicked into place as Anita King stared shakily at Junior's tear-stricken eyes, squeezed shut. Could it be that... the reason Junior's the way he is, is actually because of...

_The creepy old couple of the village of Smiths was getting closer, approaching her with twisted smiles. And the girl, eyes wide with fear, backed away from..._

_Backed away from..._

_Away from..._

Anita shook her head. Not now.

"Tohru, you..."she spoke omniously, mustering a sharp look.

Tohru, who felt like crying amidst the murmurs of his classmates, looked up at his pink-haired rival and wished he hadn't. W-what did he do to deserve-

"Tohru.

You.

Freakin.

PERVERT!"

A nosebleed trickled out from Hisami.

O


	13. BLEEPed by the Night Part One plus One

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 13

Giggle.

He glared.

Giggle. Giggle giggle giggle...

"Hee he..."

Grrr... "Hey! It's not funny!"

Hisami couldn't hold back the full-blown fit of laughter. "Y-yes-" WAH HAH HA HA HA "Yes i-it is!"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Tohru muttered in a disbelieving tone. "I mean, what the heck? Thinking I've done something to him..."

Anita harrumphed, crossing her arms. "Pfft! From what I heard, it seems that who've had quite an eyeful. Tell me- are you only into pretty boys like Junior, or were you paying more attention to our gym shorts than I thought you were?"

Reddening, he frowned in an attempt to pass it off as anger. "I'm. Not. Into. Guys."

Hisami couldn't resist. "Oh, so you _were_ staring at Anita's gym shorts when she bent down to pick up the-"

"HISA!" shouted Tohru and Anita in unison.

Junior looked on quietly at the scene from a corner, hugging his legs. Natsume, who took note of this, discretely placed herself beside him, casually leaning against the wall and eyeing the boy.

"So," she started. "You're Junior."

Glancing over briefly, he nodded. He hoped she didn't recognize him.

Natsume turned to watch her two classmates preoccupied with snarling at each other. She found it annoying at times, but not for the same reason as some of the others did. That aside, she was rather surprised to find that... Tohru of all people...

"Ah, when will he learn?" the girl shook her head. "No matter how much he struggles, it's futile to hide the desires burning within him."

Junior gave her a puzzled look.

"And now he became a closet voyeur! Tohru, Tohru... it's good that you decided to do something about your passions, but peeping like you did... and denying it... That's not healthy."

Junior nodded.

Rabble Robble Rubble! Pink and Grouchy fought on.

"Hmm... I hope this doesn't hurt those two's relationship too much. I would rather like them together... assuming that he really _did_ took you for a girl."

The agent had on an inquisitive expression. "Together?"

"Hehe... With the way those two keeps bickering, they might as well be giving each other... um..." Natsume faced away slightly. "...Er, chocolates! Yes. Chocolates."

_Really, _really_ good... chocolates._

The boy beside her pondered this. Is that how it works? Hurting means liking? He did not know much about these matters, but it sounded rather fascinating that... W-wait a minute, so what did all those people trying to kill him mean? And... and some of them were killed themselves, so...

...

...No _chocolates?!_

"Hey." Natsume called out, interrupting poor Junior's increasingly morbid line of thoughts. "What are you going to do about Tohru?"

"H-huh?"

"No plans, huh? That's going to be awkward... Good luck on it!"

Not knowing what to say, Junior just curled tighter. Quite frankly, he wanted to be at least a kilometre away from that boy at all times, whether he really did confused him for a girl or not, but with his mission to watch over the school, there was no way he could...

...Oh, wait...

"Thank you."

Natsume looked a bit taken aback, but smiled embarrassedly. "Ah... no problem."

The night was getting rather fun for her. Here she was, watching Anita changing tactics and starting to noogie Tohru, chuckling along with her classmates, getting friendly with a great looking guy with...

_Beautiful_ ruby red eyes.

_Intoxicating_ gaze.

Deep, rich voice.

And a touch of... mysteriousness shrouding him.

'Wow.' she though, blissfully happy with her fortune. 'Just what are the chances?! I met _two_ guys with red-eyes, intoxicating gaze, and rich voice shrouded in mystery, in the same school year!'

Junia Ecks Natsume Ecks Junia.

"What the... HEY!" shouted Anita who noticed the two together. "Stay away from that pervert!"

Junior looked hurt.

"How rude of you! He's been perfectly-"

"I wasn't referring to Junior when I said pervert."

...Snap.

* * *

Anita versus Natsume lasted another twenty minutes, with the casual chatter in response taking 10, and eventually the excitement died down. The group of Anita's classmates and Junior settled down to continue the hunt. This was a problem, however, as waiting for a poltergeist of all things has proven to be a rather fruitless effort so far, with only the whole craziness of Molester Tohru and Pervy Natsume keeping things interesting. So in short-

"GAH this is so freakin BORING!" Tohru complained out loud, just like he did in the last chapter.

"Hey, calm down! It's only been five minutes since the 'casual chatter in response'!"

"Huh? Ren, do you need to name _everything?_"

Hisami shook her head. "Well _I'm_ not bored."

"And neither am I, as long as there's a bag of Cheeto-"

Empty.

"..."

Silence.

"...Um...." someone began pathetically.

Cough.

"...Mmph."

Scratch scratch.

(A few shifted restlessly as Junior watched. He counted all the different manoeuvres he can use to kill them.)

Crick.

"Mmm..." Crunch crunch...

"Hey is that Chee-" Nope, a pencil. "Oh..."

Hisami flipped her book.

Cough.

"...Say, does anyone... um..."

"What?"

"...Well, you know... does anyone have... scary stories or something..."

"Scary stories?"

"Scary stories."

"Hmmm. Anyone got some?"

"We're telling scary stories now?"

"_Scary stories?_"

"**Scary stories.**"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Tohru said casually. "Now UNTIE ME ALREADY!"

And the scary stories... began.

O


	14. BLEEPed by the Night Part Three

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 14

The scary stories.

* * *

Story One- Tohru at the Age of Seven

* * *

An hour has passed since the sun went down, but the boy still lingered. They say the abandoned building was over forty years old, with many corridors seeming to stretch on for miles. Everything within was creaky, even the abandoned rubber mats, and half of the rooms and halls were cluttered with heaps of junk that might have once been luggages for moving, left behind in a rush. It was the perfect maze for main characters to get lost in, and so reminiscent of the creepy mansions in one of those episodes that practically all long-running mystery series seems to have- complete with a generic horror back-story that undoubtedly has an explanation behind it to be eventually uncovered by the protagonist.

Tohru is proud to proclaim that unlike the other protagonists, he has merely _temporarily misplaced_ himself (big words!).

Grunt.

With no small amount of struggle, the boy's little arms managed to push open the heavy door under the stair case with its knobs all misshapen. Because apparently that is what protagonists did when they're "temporarily misplaced" in a haunted-looking mansion- they go to the source of the ungodly, muffled scream of terror. Jeez, how they reverberated within his tiny ears!

"What the... hey, did you hear that?" came a gruff voice from the dimly lit basement below, and the brave little adventurer wet his pan- err, _calmly_ ducked against the dark corner that was conveniently available, which also allowed him a good view of the happenings of the cold, damp room.

"Mmmph! Mmm mph!" said the funny looking man with what seems to be ketchup all over him, wrapped against a rickety chair and mouth heavily taped up. A slim man with an eye-patch punched him.

"Must be the wind or something." replied a moustached hired goon, even though it never was just 'the wind or something' in any story.

Tohru then for some reason chose this time to lose all fear and began to evaluate the situation, not worried about getting caught. Okay, so about a dozen, smartly dressed adults are surrounding a blue-and-purple-all-over tied-up man with what should be red condiments spilling out from his orifices, occasionally beating him, spitting on him, and being verbally abusive toward his mama. This would mean that...?

"Where is the ARTIFACT?!" shouted the eye-patched one, smashing his fist against the captive man's face. More "ketchup" spurted out from his nose.

'Aha!' Tohru shouted mentally, a gesture of which wasn't of much use for anything except to let the audience know that he had it all figured out. 'This must surely be... that _funny adult stuff_, like the things in _the weird movies_ dad keeps hiding from mom!'

A sudden crash that everyone should have been expecting by now was produced from the shattering, ground-level small window, quite possibly caused by the woman who came through it. Landing effortlessly, she straightened her body that miraculously was not slashed up by the broken glass, brushed her long, raven hair, adjusted her thick, squarish glasses, fanned her face with sheets of paper, and doing many other things which should have provided enough details for the readers to figure out that she is, in fact-

"STOP!" she shouted, after settling down on the pointing gesture. Then, perhaps thinking that she was coming off as impolite, the woman restated herself with "_Please_ STOP! And hand over the-"

The hail of bullets were unrealistic in their sheer quantity. And somehow, the dozen or so goons who were huddled together on one side of the room pulled out their many guns cleanly without bumping against each other, indicating that they either spent countless hours practising this very manoeuvre in anticipation of this specific style of intrusion by their enemies, or professionalism. The latter just couldn't be true, however, as every single one of them were horrible marksmen- none of the shots hit the lone intruder, who did not even had to use the strange, papery-looking shield she pulled out from nowhere (it was left in disuse, and was abandoned four minutes into the fight).

Of course, what was more amazing was the fact that little Tohru was completely free of trauma in the aftermath of this event, as if witnessing a gun fight at the age of seven wasn't enough for him to grow up into a troubled and maladjusted member of society. And considering the bangs generated by the hundreds of shots fired, why haven't the kid's hearing been damaged?

"Just where is the _Artifact?!_" a goon asked the intruder amidst the storm of bullets. "Seriously, where? We're not getting anything out of this bozo."

"Hey, maybe we should try taking the tape off his mouth so that he can talk?"

"That's crazy talk! And _s_top calling it the Artifact, people! Every one knows that its referred to as the _Treasure._"

"The Artifact? Treasure?" wondered the strange woman out loud, beating on the moustached man with a paper fan. "But they told me that it was called the Tome! Unless... oh. Ugh!"

There were better ways to motivate her, you know!

It was only after the intruder finished all of them off that reinforcements for her arrived. Donning masks and non-descriptive combat outfits to be as unmemorable as possible, they came in from the same small window that the woman used to barge in instead of the doorway that Tohru used, leaving the child undiscovered.

"Heh. You weren't too bad." muttered the now cuffed and apprehended goon (who was beaten up the most) to the bespectacled reader, who pulled out a paperback and started reading since half way into the fight. "It would have been pretty cool if you were one of us."

The woman looked up from her book, confusion evident on her face. "Me? Go against Mr. Joker and the others?" she tried imagining it. "...No, that will never happen."

And they left, forgetting about the Artifact/Treasure/Tome/Whatever completely. Nobody cared, as the focus was on the bookworm kicking the asses of incompetent goons.

Her worst adventure ever!

"My best adventure ever!" Tohru exclaimed for himself to hear. And of course he easily found his way out of the horrifying mansion afterwards.

"Ring, ring! Tohru! Hey I'm just calling to let you know that, if you missed the Lasertron Marathon that was on TV just a while ago, you're a loser."

"Aw, fudge cakes!"

* * *

"...And then I punched the Monster in the face and then she thanked me for saving her and I told her it was no problem and then we laughed heartily at the end. The end." Tohru finished, getting himself excited with the terribly distorted version of the already ridiculous actual event. "What do you think?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Tohru, that was... err..." Natsume started, trying to find a euphemistic variation for 'Hellishly Torturous Assault Equivalent to Crap Sliding Down Our Ears' and failing.

Junior, although generally easily impressed due to not knowing what the standards are, felt his brain melting from sheer stupidity. Looking at Anita, he noticed that she started to turn an interesting shade of green which amused him many times more than Tohru's tale, despite his aversion to that colour induced by an unfortunate accident with Wendy's salad when he was a baby. (S-so cold and sticky and GREEN and... No, Ms. Wendy! Not the PEPPER! NOT THE PEP-)

"Alright, lets move onto Stalker-san's story!" Hisami suddenly exclaimed cheerfully. Overly cheerfully.

"Huh? Hey, I said what do you all think about-"

"Shut up, Tohru."

"Wha...?" He couldn't believe what he just heard. "Hisami, did you just tell me to-"

"I said SHUT UP TOHRU!" Hisa yelped as she covered her ears, tears streaming down her eyes.

"W-why is everyone picking on me?!"

'Me? Scary stories?' Junior pondered for a moment. "Well, there was that day when..."

* * *

Story Two- Junior During Last Summer

* * *

Junior stared at the note in his hand.

His guardian -um, let's call her Mandy for now- told him to run a simple errand. All he had to do was pick up some disks full of blackmail materials, lists of politicians to bribe, and some notes on the questionable parts of the Gentleman Boo- (Oh, wait! They told him that the Books are supposed to be a secret.) ...err, yeah! Gentleman _Boo, _which should be in the office of Mr. Carpent- um, Gardener! Mr. Gardener.

The boy started walking briskly, as that office was quite far from the side of the underground secret bas- ("Remember, Junior." Mr. Carpenter told him one day after having too much to drink. "Don't you be tellin' anyone else about how we had to set up our _base_ down in this rrrat-hole.") ...eh, the side of the _regular_ secret base he was at. The travel across the corridor was pleasant as his shoes kept making crisp clopping sounds against the floor, and Junior felt calmness washing over him.

"SHUT THAT CLOP CLOP ALREADY YA WUBUSUCU-" Yelled Edward the Crazy Accountant, suddenly blocking the boy's way and gibbering incoherently. He flailed his arms, flailed his legs, flailed his tongue and head, as if to over emphasize his mental instability. Junior merely blinked as the madman broke the ruler in his hand and swung a big shard around, trying to aim for the boy.

(They say that he just wasn't the same after the big fire at the British Library destroyed his stamp collection)

So our dear Junior decided that it would be in his best interest to phase through the- ("Juuuuuniorrrrr...") ...um, _passed by_. He passed by him.

"AAAH RACKING FROGGIN-" the man shouted, tearing his hair in frustration as he had no way to silence someone with the power of... passing by stuff.

And of course, he met more eccentric co-workers on his way to Mr. Gardener, including...

"I'll rip you to PIECES, little-"

George the Human Shredding Machine, all out of misprints to shred.

...Pass.

"Burn! Be **cleansed!**"

Molly the Pyro-Janitor, who never quite forgave him for that Gum Incident.

...Pass.

"Gonna Ra-Ta-Ta your arse, squirt!"

Hugh the Heavily Armed Secretary. Hi! How's your daughter? "Fine!", he replied.

...Pass.

"This time, it'll be different!"

Linda the Rival Agent From Another Organization in Detroit. Not a co-worker, but she's around often enough, trying to kill him with that bloody bloody axe.

...Pass.

"And finally, ME! Say your prayers!"

Oh, its Anti-Junior! Rude as alwa- Yikes! Is that an Impotency-Ray Output Device?!

...With some difficulty, _pass._ Whew, that was close! Having arrived at the office, Junior opened the door...

* * *

"...then Mr. Carpent- um, Mr. Gardener, thinking I was Mandy, jumped out from his hiding spot and yelled 'BOO!' really loudly." Junior shuddered in fear. "It was scary."

"..."

Silence.

The boy was thrown in to a state of confusion as Hisami suddenly hugged him again, followed by Anita, Natsume, and the rest of the school children around him (Tohru was last, as he did not want to seem eager), all of them making several gestures of comfort that he didn't quite recognize. He did however felt pretty warm thanks to their body heat, so he left them be.

* * *

Story Three- The Break From Terror-Inducing Tales That Wasn't

* * *

After buying enough for the others, he opened his can for a drink. Smack smack. Ughh, the aftertaste...

"Hey." Hisami asked the boy. "Did you get my grape soda?"

Merely nodding in reply, Tohru took another sip as if uninterested until his curiosity got the better of him. "Hey, do you know what's up with that Junior guy? Is his family in the Mafia or something?"

Hisa shrugged, honestly not knowing much and feeling quite bothered because of it. "I don't know. Well, since he's a stalker, maybe he supplies them with pictures?"

Diet Cola gushed from his nose from the shock. It stung. "Wh... A STALKER?! Is that why you call him Stalker-san?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he secretly took some pictures of Anita's sister." she replied. They must have been some heck of a nice collection of images for that girl to have been so angry!

"Whoa." Tohru murmured, wiping his face.

It was some minutes later when he stopped dawdling around the vending machine and made eye contact with her. The boy decided to stop stalling.

"Alright, out with it." he said to her with a sigh, crossing his arms.

"Eh? You noticed?" She responded, reddening.

Tohru scoffed. "Psh! We've known each other for how many years now? I know when you want to talk to me about something."

"Ah, you're right. You're not _that_ dense. ("Hey!") Well, um, you see..."

Tohru leaned in closer.

"That is... I really... really like..."

He took a deep breath. The boy had a feeling that he knew where this was going.

"I.. like..." gulp. Here goes! "You see, I really, really want to** Nibble on Anita's Ears!**"

"..."

"..."

"...H-huh?!" He didn't knew after all.

"Augh... A-Anita's so..." she gushed, shaking and blushing. "...So CUTE and ENERGETIC and TOMBOYISH...! I-I want to touch her and hug her and get her flustered and steal her undies and-"

Tohru, looking hurt, slumped his head toward the earth. "I... I see. I thought that..."

Hisami suddenly stopped herself and looked at the downtrodden boy. "Tohru? Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nuthin." Sniffle.

"Come on, what do you mean, 'I thought that...'? What were you going to say?"

"...Well, that is... Its just that I thought you were... going to confess how you liked _me_ and stuff."

Hisa's face went blank. "...Tohru?"

"Yeah?"

SMACK. "OW!"

"_Of course I like you! _In _that_ way!" she shouted in a exasperated manner. "I mean, DUH, I thought it was already established that we were lovey-dovey and stuff!"

"What? We are?" he asked confusedly. Perhaps he _was_ dense.

"Oh, come on! Isn't it really obvious? I mean, everyone in our class can see that I wanna-"

She then graphically described what she wanted to do to him, which involved a jar of jelly, her tongue, and his nipples.

"Wuh?" he replied intelligibly, blushing terribly. "B-but what was that stuff about Anita?!"

Hisami reddened again, giggling nervously. "Err, well, it's just that I've been having these fantasies lately and... I mean, just look at her! She's cute as hell!"

The boy's eyes bulged as she flipped her cellphone open, and showed him a picture that looked like it was taken in the locker room. Holy fudge-cakes she's bending down and... are those Natsume's _curves_ in the background?!

Shut. "Anyway, the point is that I like you, so I want to be honest about how I'm having suggestive dreams with my best friend in it lately." Then, parallelling herself from ROD the TV right down to the embarrassed look on her face, she asked him. "Is it weird?"

"_Yes!_" he said sharply, disturbed beyond belief. "Yes, it feels really weird for you, a girl, to tell me, a boy you apparently like, that you are having suggestive dreams with your best friend in it lately! I mean, w-what am I supposed to say?!"

Hisami didn't know either. But sensing that he was in need of some words of comfort, she replied. "Well, we can talk about it after you give it some thought. And just so you know, I wouldn't mind it if _you_ had fantasies about Stalker-san. He's pretty cute too, after all."

Tohru sputtered. Like, oh my god, Hisami! You're scaring me!

* * *

"Hey, Tohru." Anita called. The boy kept staring at her ever since he came back with Hisa. "What are you looking at?"

"...Nuthin." blush.

Come to think of it, he's been staring at Junior and Natsume, too. Eh, whatever.

If she had eyes on the back of her head, the girl would have noticed him staring at her hips again as she walked away. Daaamnnn...

* * *

The children shared their horror tales deep into the night, until it was determined that Natsume's was the scariest as she recounted a psychological horror-thriller that involved her on a camping trip, guns to people's heads, and a shape-shifting man. "But that must have been some kind of a trick! I mean, there's no way that a man who can look like other people as if he's a _mirror_ or something exist, right?" Junior coughed. Could he have been...?

"Aaanitaaaa!"

"Sis, please quiet down."

Anita rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, darnit. They came after all."

The older paper sisters greeted and was greeted by Anita's classmates, and secretly felt at ease to see that they were all okay. Crazy kids and their silly adventu- Oh, wait. We work for Dokusensha.

"Junior!" Michelle exclaimed, putting down the picnic basket to bear-hug the boy. ("Oof!" Breast breast breast.) "I haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?"

"Mmmmfffmmm..."

"I think you're suffocating him, sis."

As the other children helped themselves to some snacks and Maggie found a good tree to read under, Michelle and Junior chatted the night away. Well, Michelle did most of the chatting, and Junior listened. It felt nice to have someone who would talk enthusiastically with him.

"...and Anita was all embarrassed about it, so she didn't tell anyone until next morning!"

Eyes glittering with curiosity, he asked her innocently. "...What's a perio-"

"Nnnngh! So cute!" she gushed, ruffling his long, silky hair. "You're officially our fourth sister!"

"Um, brother. I'm a boy." he reminded her again.

"**Sister.**" she insisted. "You can be a brother after I have some fun _dressing you up a couple of times._"

(Not knowing of the stigma against cross-dressing, he agreed to let her when he had the time.)

'She's very nice to me.' the young agent thought as the woman shared another embarrassing story involving Anita. 'She's unconditionally warm, open, and kind. A close friend... Family...? I wonder if...'

The boy smiled, feeling quite happy as she grinned at him. 'I wonder if... this is what it feels like to have a mother...'

* * *

Some kilometres away, Wendy suddenly stopped what she was doing and gaped. Her Librarian Senses told her that a certain male in her life is being slowly but surely taken away by another blond.

"...I better call Mr. Capenter."

Beep beep boop boop bop.

Ring, ring...

"_Blip! Is this on? Ah, here it goes! Hi, this is Joe Carpenter. I'm not at my office at the moment to take the call, so please leave me a message after the-"_

Wendy's grip tightened. The phone didn't work quite so well after that, and was replaced by a new one that wasn't split in half.

O

O

O

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry for the long delay. And just so you know, I'm thinking of releasing the next one near the end of _this_ month.

So how was the chapter? If you see any problems, please feel free to point it out.


	15. Heart of Naughtiness

Pseudotree's fanfic

Disclaimer –I do not own ROD the TV

Summary –(Slight AU) Junior, due to his power of intangibility, ends up in many, MANY embarrassing mishaps throughout the series. And by "mishaps", I mean that the poor boy goes through things when he... shouldn't.

O

Chapter 15

She paced around them, fuming. Every step she took conveyed the deep-seethed frustration that boiled within her, and from time to time she would throw sharp glares at the other occupants of the underground hot-spring. They would then flinch as if feeling guilty, stopping the squirming caused by sitting on their knees for too long.

"Ughhh..." murmured an unconscious figure in pain, having been tripped on suddenly by the lady stomping in circles. Gritting her teeth, she angrily stood back up, kicked the fainted woman on the ground, ("Oomph!") and shot a look at the others. "Alright. OK."

"I know that this is going to sound strange. And considering the kind of things we do for a living, it might even be down-right ridiculous. I mean, yes, sure, we're the real deal. The goddamn secret agents that does some questionable stuff for a paycheck. Hired goons to do the dirty jobs. Super-powered freelancers who's running a little short on dough this month. And yes, we're expected to use whatever is available, which sometimes leads to things getting a tad too much on the shady side as we scramble for the resources. Yeah, sure, whatever..."

"Um, Alice? I-I think we-"

"But that is NO EXCUSE" she shouted, ignoring Drake. "-for what happened today! I mean, don't you people have any common sense?! You! Like, I know a little humour from time to time on the job is fine and all, but did you really have to respond to _that?!_"

"But it was such a good punchli-"

"DAMMIT THAT'S SERIOUSLY NO EXCUSE! Especially when you knocked everyone _but _your intended targets down! And you know what? I can live with that. Like, no problem. I can handle _that_ much. I've seen worse. Well, that is to say..."

She ground her teeth and pointed a shaking finger to the towering figure in shades, somehow comfortable seated on the cold, rocky floor despite his bulky attire. "...until _he_ joined the mix!"

Sonny Wong conveyed how genuinely hurt he was through the subtle creases that could be seen on the exposed parts of his face, radiating an aura of loneliness, years of dissatisfaction, and sexual frustration that everybody interpreted as a menacing presence.

"When he pulled out the... that... that thing was just..." Alice murmured, shaking her head. "It was just so, so surreal. I am just completely flabbergasted! Even seeing him pulling a darn submarine out of his ass would be easier to accept!"

Maggie burst into tears, shuddering feebly. "I... I never imagined that the world was so... I-I didn't see it I didn't see it I didn't see it..."

"Everything just became plain sloppy afterwards! Fine! So what! I've been in this gig for how long now? But then he... Oh, gosh, then he pulled the..."

Sonny Wong threw his arms up in exasperation. Everyone's a critic!

"You know what though? That's fine too. It really speaks volumes about this whole business of mine that it wasn't the first time I faced something like... whatever it was. Granted, it threw me off pretty badly. Okay, well... time to move on! It just _couldn't get any worse!_"

Drake rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. This is just so messed up.

"Then... And then..." she started off again painfully, burying and roughly running her fingers over her head. "Then of course he just had to... that... Ohhhhh, just WHAT THE (lalalalala~) IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?! JUST WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THAT, YOU (lololololo~)?!! IT'S PRECISELY (poopoopoopoopoo~) LIKE THOSE WHICH SOMEONE LIKE YOU PULL EVERY OTHER YEAR THAT WE DON'T GET ANY (yohohohoho~)-ING RESPECT!! For goodness sake, there's a (nyahahahaha~) -ing kid in here! How could you do such a thing in front of her?!"

Michelle covered Anita's ears with a frown. Such foul language!

"And another- hey, HEY! Don't you just try to shrug this off, you behemoth! And another thing! In the end, no matter whatever stupid crap you get yourselves in, it's all about whether you can bring home the bacon or not, or in this case, the _key_. So did you get the key? NO! You just let some puny little brat suddenly sneak up on you, take the key, and disappear just like that while squabbling with each other! This is just plain... What the heck is this..."

Drake, approaching Alice cautiously, watched her worriedly as she began to shake violently with her head lowered toward the ground. "Err, Alice? Are you alrigh-"

"GGGGRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHH!!" exploded she, almost giving the poor man beside her a heart attack. "YOU PEOPLE ARE EMBARRASSING! This whole mission was embarrassing! I just want to crawl into a hole and DIE or something."

_...Click._

"...You know what?" she murmured softly to the others in the cave, as an idea came to her. "(pipopopopo~) this (poopy~)! I'm gonna be taking some well-deserved break starting _right now!_ And if anyone asks, tell them I'm dead. Dead as a ghost!"

Alice then startled everyone by suddenly stripping down to her underwear, and jumped into the hot-spring. Some splashes later, stretching over the water to float lazily, she instantly relaxed.

"Ahhhh..."

"..."

"...Um..."

"Mmmm..."

"...Err..."

"...Huh? You're all still here? Shoo!" said she, waving them off.

"But, um, Alice..." Drake called, Averting his eyes.

"You too. Consider yourself fired." wave wave.

"What? But that's..." he sighed, then picked up his items and turned to leave. "Oh, great. How am I suppose to report this?"

"Dead!" she replied dazedly. "Ahhh yes... Dead as a fallen leaf floating on a hot-spring."

Confused, battle scarred, and feeling quite insulted, the rest began to trickle out as well, shouldering the injured and unconscious party.

"Hey! You too, big guy!" said Anita, pulling on Sonny Wong who didn't seem keen on leaving a topless hot-spring bather. Grunting, he reluctantly let himself be lead out as the girl began kicking him rather painfully.

"Well, today was... eventful." Michelle murmured as she covered her eyes from the sunlight that hit them outside of the cave. "What was Junior's guardian doing here, though? Is he really in the same line of work as us, like she said?"

Remembering back to the scuffle that took place only a couple of hours ago, Maggie shook her head solemnly. "I simply can't imagine that to be the case."

"Ughhhhh..." Nenene, feeling the rays from the sun prickling and prodding her awake, blearily struggled into the world of the living and found herself being carried by the second oldest Paper Sister. "H-huh? Wasn't there a fight and... How long have I been...?"

"A couple of hours." Maggie answered as she put her down. "Michelle says she's sorry."

Looking sourly at the eldest sister gesturing apologetically, the writer ran a hand over her head as she looked around, tallying. "Let's see... Myself, Michelle, Maggie, Pinky, Shady... Hey, where's that grumpy guy and the strange woman he worked for? And is this a shoe-print on my-"

"Grumpy got fired and left." Anita replied as she approached, too tired to react to being called Pinky. The girl looked pointedly at the large man she dragged out with her. "And that lady's 'dead'. Behemoth here _brutally_ messed her up."

Nenene gaped in shock. She had thought that this type of work was likely to be dangerous, but... "Dead? Brutal?" Clenching her teeth, she shot Sonny a glare. "YOU. You are the most powerful Paper-master I've ever met, but also the filthiest!"

Anita shuddered as she was reminded of how... _filthy_ he was. No wonder poor Junior's so maladjusted to everything.

Sonny Wong gave her a silent, confused look. Shrugging, he waved goodbye to everyone and proceeded to flap his sleeved arms wrapped in paper, up and down.

Some distance away, Drake gasped in shock as a penguin-shaped figure flew away from the area near the hot-spring. "I-is that... Pen-Pen?"

* * *

Junior bought some juice and took a sip. It was rather sour.

O

OO

Author's note

Hey there! I'm back! And with a really epic chapter full of Junior's struggle to make sense of his role in the world, the full scope of his relationship with the varied cast of the series, and elaborately detailed exploration of the boy's mind to reveal his deepest desires which lead to his behaviour and personal approach to interacting with others. Oh, and a little bit of some hot-spring stuff.

Thanks for reading. The next one shouldn't take as long as this one did to get posted, though it may be longer.


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